Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Saturday (Dec 28) said that it had foiled a Ukrainian plot to kill a high-ranking Russian officer and a blogger using a music speaker fitted with a bomb. The FSB didn’t identify the potential targets of the alleged plot in its statement. It said the Ukrainian intelligence agency GUR had contacted a Russian citizen through messaging app Telegram.

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The Russian national then allegedly managed to retrieve the bomb from a ‘hiding place’ in capital Moscow. He then concealed the bomb, equivalent to 1 1/2 kg of TNT and packed with ball bearings, inside a portable music speaker.

The major allegation by Russia comes weeks after Ukraine’s SBU assassinated the chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops in Moscow outside his apartment. Lieutenant General Kirillov was Russia’s highest-ranking officer killed in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The SBU agents reportedly attached a bomb to an electric scooter and exploded it as Kirillov and his aide walked towards their official car. Ukraine had accused Kirillov of staging several chemical attacks against Kyiv forces during the war.

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News agency Reuters reported that Kirillov’s death may have prompted Russian authorities to review security protocols for the army's top brass.

Other high profile killings

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Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out several targeted assassinations since the start of Moscow's full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. Amongst the major high-profile cases are the 2022 killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin; and the 2023 café bombing that led to the death of a Russian pro-war blogger named Vladlen Tatarsky. Last year, a shooting incident targeted a Russian submarine commander accused of war crimes by Kyiv.

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Following the death of Kirillov earlier this year, the Ukraine envoy of US President-elect Donald Trump condemned the move and said such killings were "not really smart" and going "a little bit too far."

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos