FSB detains Ukrainian intel agent, foils terror plot near Moscow

FSB detains Ukrainian intel agent, foils terror plot near Moscow The perpetrator sought to launch a drone from a Moscow railway station to identify railcars carrying petroleum products© Russian Federal Security Service/TASSMOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained a foreign national while he was attempting to leave for Norway, the FSB press service said. He had sought to launch a drone from a Moscow railway station to identify railcars carrying petroleum products, the FSB added. The press service also said that eight people had been taken into custody over plans to carry out a terrorist attack using 35 FPV drones against a strategic enterprise in the Moscow Region. TASS has gathered the key facts about the incidents. Detention of foreign national - FSB officers detained a foreign national in the Murmansk Region for violating the rules for entering a border zone, the FSB said. - The detainee was heading toward the Russian-Norwegian border. - Investigators determined that he had voluntarily made contact with Ukrainian intelligence services through Telegram in 2023. - On their instructions, he travelled to Moscow, where he used an FPV drone at a railway station to reconnoiter government buildings, transport infrastructure and places where civilians gathered. - After preparing to carry out sabotage and terrorist attacks, he flew from Moscow to Murmansk in order to illegally cross the border into Norway, the FSB said. Confession - The foreign national detained over the attempted FPV drone launch at a Moscow railway station confessed. - He said he was an expert in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and artificial intelligence. - He also admitted submitting applications to Ukraine's territorial defense forces and Ukrainian Telegram channels in order to work for the country’s intelligence services. Legal action - A criminal case has been opened under Article 205, Part 2(a) of the Russian Criminal Code, covering terrorist attacks. - He has been placed in custody. Investigation into foiled terrorist attack near Moscow - Eight people - the alleged perpetrator and accomplices - have been remanded in custody over preparations to attack a strategic enterprise in the Moscow Region with 35 FPV drones, the FSB said. - They were taken into custody in a criminal case opened under Article 205, Part 2, covering terrorist attacks, and Article 205.4, Part 2, covering participation in a terrorist community, of the Russian Criminal Code. - In July, the FSB said it had thwarted an attempt by Ukrainian intelligence services to attack a strategic defense enterprise in the Moscow Region with drones. - The drones were to be launched from a rented hangar that had been prepared for the operation by two Moldovan nationals who later left Russia. - The drones were smuggled into Russia from Slovakia through Poland and Belarus with the involvement of intelligence agencies from European countries. - The FSB said Ukrainian and US citizen Albert Vasilyev, a Ukrainian video blogger and rapper known as Kyivstoner, was involved in organizing the foiled terrorist attack and directed the accomplices. 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