MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. Officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a Russian citizen in Crimea who, acting on behalf of Ukrainian military intelligence, was collecting data on the location of military facilities and plotting a terrorist attack at one of the medical facilities of the Russian Defense Ministry in Simferopol, FSB Public Relations Center reported on Thursday.
"The Federal Security Service of the Republic of Crimea has detained a Russian citizen born in 1992, suspected of treason and involved in preparation of a terrorist act in the region," the center reported in a statement.
According to the FSB, he was recruited via the Signal messenger by an employee of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, "on whose instructions he provided the enemy with intelligence information about the socio-political situation on the peninsula, the location of Russian military facilities, and the results of the Ukrainian armed forces’ missile strikes."
"He was also assigned to carry out a terrorist act at a medical facility of the Russian Defense Ministry in the city of Simferopol," the statement reads.
The Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol has initiated criminal proceedings against the suspect on charges of preparations for a terrorist act, illegal trafficking of explosives and explosive devices and treason. The court ruled to remand him into custody.
"The FSB of Russia once again draws the attention of citizens to the fact that the Ukrainian intelligence services are not reducing their activities in their online search, including in foreign messaging apps, for potential perpetrators of unlawful acts aimed at damaging the security of our country, and reminds that all individuals who have agreed to assist the enemy will be identified, held criminally liable, and will receive the punishment they deserve," the statement added.