MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained two individuals from the South Caucasus who acted on instructions from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) to carry out an FPV-drone attack on a key component of Moscow’s missile defense system and an electric power facility.
"The Federal Security Service has thwarted the subversive and terrorist activities of two individuals from the Transcaucasus region, born in 1991 and 1998, who were acting as agents of the Security Service of Ukraine and were involved in preparing a terrorist act," the FSB’s Public Relations Center (PRC) said.
According to the FSB, the suspects were tasked with assembling strike-capable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) retrieved from hidden caches, transporting them to a launch site in the Moscow Region, and preparing them for launch.
"The drones were to be operated remotely from Ukrainian territory. FSB officers apprehended the individuals while they were preparing an attack on an electric power facility and a key component of Moscow’s missile defense system," the agency said.
The FSB reported that one of the detainees had been recruited by an SBU officer and traveled to Russia in exchange for a promised monetary reward to carry out the planned attack. He subsequently enlisted an acquaintance from his inner circle to assist him.
FPV drones and components intended for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices were recovered from caches in the Smolensk and Kaluga regions, the FSB said.
The FSB’s Investigative Department has opened a criminal case against the detainees under Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Russian Criminal Code, which concerns participation in a terrorist organization. A court has ordered both suspects to be held in custody.
A comprehensive set of investigative and operational measures is underway to establish the full circumstances of the alleged activities and identify any possible accomplices, the FSB added.
The agency also warned that Ukrainian intelligence services were seeking to recruit civilians for illicit activities intended to harm Russia. It emphasized that anyone assisting what it described as the adversary would be identified and held accountable, according to the FSB’s Public Relations Center.