FSB detains SBU agent who was preparing to kill Russian Defense Ministry employee in exchange for refugee status in EU

A foreign national suspected of preparing an assassination attempt on a Russian serviceman on the orders of Ukrainian special services has been detained in the Moscow region.

This was reported by the FSB Russia Public Relations Centre, citing RIA Novosti.

According to the agency, the detainee is a foreign national born in 1990 who was recruited by Kyiv. His task was to shoot an employee of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The foreign national was infiltrated into Russian territory in February 2026.

According to investigation materials, on the instructions of his handler, the suspect retrieved a PM pistol with a silencer and 16 rounds from a dead drop. He then conducted surveillance of the Defense Ministry employee near his home and place of work.

During interrogation, the detainee confessed that he had been recruited by Security Service of Ukraine officers on the territory of one of the European Union member states. He had fled there to escape criminal prosecution in his home country. According to him, his Ukrainian handlers promised to help him obtain refugee status in one of the EU countries in exchange for carrying out the terrorist act.

In early May, two minors were sentenced for attempting to blow up the deputy director of a defense industry enterprise in Kolomna. Both will serve their sentences in a juvenile correctional colony.