08:37 18-09-2025

FSB Foils Ukrainian Spy Network Plotting Attack in St. Petersburg

The FSB says it stopped a Ukrainian spy network in St. Petersburg preparing to kill a defense industry executive with a car bomb. Three suspects now face life sentences.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the dismantling of a Ukrainian intelligence network in Saint Petersburg. According to the agency, the group had been preparing an assassination attempt against the head of a defense industry enterprise, planning to blow up his car. The explosives were hidden in a cache set up at a city cemetery.

The FSB said the cell included three Russian citizens born in 1993, 1994, and 2006. Acting under the guidance of a handler from a Ukrainian terrorist organization linked to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, two members conducted surveillance on the target and collected details about his residence. They then used the cemetery cache to hand over an improvised explosive device to the designated perpetrator.

The agency reported that the suspects admitted to working with the Ukrainian side, maintaining contact through the Telegram messenger.

Criminal cases have been opened on charges of preparing a terrorist attack and the illegal circulation of explosives. The accused face sentences up to life imprisonment.