Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has thwarted an assassination attempt on the head of a defense company in the country's Udmurt Republic, according to state-run Tass news agency.
A 33-year-old Russian citizen was detained in the city of Izhevsk, Tass reported on Monday, citing the FSB. He was found with components for making a bomb and explosives, and had been acting on instructions from a "Ukrainian terrorist organization," it said.
Tass did not name the defense company chief that it said was the target of the planned attack, nor did it identify the company.
There have been multiple attacks on Russian soil and assassination attempts throughout President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which he launched in February 2022. The Kremlin has blamed the majority of these incidents on so-called "saboteurs"—individuals allegedly carrying out orders from Ukraine.
Components for making an improvised explosive device and devices used to contact Ukrainian "coordinators" were reported to have been confiscated from the detained Russian citizen, who was also not identified.
The FSB released a video showing the moment the man was detained. It shows a man dressed in black being pinned to the ground.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
Earlier this month, Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for the assassination of Ilya Kiva, 46, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who had defected to Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, and had been charged with treason.
Cases of sabotage are also increasing among FSB employees who wish to leave the agency, according to an independent Russian news outlet.
A former FSB employee told Important Stories, an investigative Russian publication, that after Putin last year banned people from resigning from the agency while his partial mobilization decree remains in place, many employees have been acting out, hoping to be fired.
The Russian president declared a partial mobilization of the population in September 2022. The Kremlin has said it will not issue a decree ending the partial mobilization.
FSB employees who want to quit are increasingly ignoring instructions from management, and committing acts of sabotage, the former worker told Important Stories.
Newsweek was unable to verify the specific claims, but they reflect previous reporting about dissatisfaction levels within the FSB.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a self-exiled Russian tycoon, told Newsweek in July that less than a third of the FSB would be prepared to back Putin should a mutiny take place in the future.
Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
