Russia has said it intercepted a Ukrainian assassination attempt on the Russian-backed leader of Crimea, according to state media TASS and RIA, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Russia’s security agency said it had arrested a suspect hired by Ukrainian security services to kill Sergey Aksyonov, who was appointed governor of Crimea after Russia illegally annexed it from Ukraine in 2014.
In a statement, the FSB said a Russian recruited by Ukraine’s security services arrived in Crimea last month to start preparing for the attack and was arrested before he could plant the bomb.
A few more details: the alleged agent was born in 1988 and underwent “training in reconnaissance and subversive activities, including training in mine explosives,” according to the FSB.
The suspect was charged with “attempted terrorism and illegal acquisition, possession and transport of explosives or explosive devices” and is in custody, the security agency said.
Aksyonov thanked the FSB for thwarting the alleged attempt on his life and said that “it is possible to completely eliminate the terrorist threat from Kiev only by fulfilling the objectives of the ‘special operation'”, TASS reported. Russia continues to refer to its war in Ukraine as a “special military operation”.
Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have long declared their aim to recapture Crimea, but rarely comment directly on actions on the peninsula.
(By Clare Sebastian, from CNN Anna Chernova and Svitlana Vlasova)
Source: CNN Brasil
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