Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it thwarted a Ukrainian assassination plot against an unidentified official in the southern Saratov region, coming amid unconfirmed reports that the regional governor may have been the target.
FSB agents shot and killed an alleged Ukrainian operative who “showed armed resistance” while retrieving an explosive device from storage, the agency said in a statement. The individual “was going to use the explosive device to blow up the government official’s state car,” it added.
Video published by state news agencies showed law enforcement agents standing next to a blurred body in what appeared to be a construction site, displaying bullet casings and a pistol.
The second half of the video showed agents searching an empty apartment, where they found explosive components, Ukrainian-language documents and Ukrainian currency.
The FSB said the alleged plotter was a Russian national recruited by Ukraine in 2024, who underwent “special training” in Kyiv before being sent to Russia to carry out “terrorist attacks.”
The agency did not identify the intended target.
Saratov-based news outlets Sarinform and Vzglyad Info, citing anonymous sources, reported that Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin was the target of the assassination plot.
Busargin’s press service neither confirmed nor denied those reports when reached by local media for comment, and the governor has not commented on the claims.
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