‘Ukrainian agent' involved in Russian general's assassination detained – FSB (VIDEO)
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported that it detained a Ukrainian operative who is suspected of planting a bomb that killed a Russian two-star general serving as deputy operations chief of the General Staff on Friday.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Russian authorities said the explosive device, which was hidden in a parked car, was activated remotely from Ukraine.
The man, identified as Ignat Kuzin, who has a residence permit in Ukraine, purchased the Volkswagen Golf used in the assassination of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, the FSB said. According to the officials, the suspect retrieved the components for the bomb from a cache and planted the explosive device inside the vehicle.
Moskalik, the deputy chief of operations of Russia's General Staff, was killed outside his residence in Balashikha, a suburb east of Moscow. Russia's Investigative Committee said that the explosive device was packed with metal fragments for additional lethality. The news agency TASS reported that investigators estimated the yield of the bomb as the equivalent of 300 grams of TNT.
Along with the statement, the FSB released a video depicting the suspect's apprehension, as well as his subsequent interrogation. In it, the 42-year-old man said that he had been 'recruited by Ukrainian special services, by a handler, Vadim, in Kiev Region in April 2023.' According to the testimony, Kuzin arrived in Moscow in September of the same year.
'In February 2025, I bought the Volkswagen on [Vadim's] orders,' the suspect recounted, adding that later that month he received the coordinates of the cache containing the explosive materials and a camera.
The man said that the 'explosion itself was carried out remotely by Vadim the handler.'
On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the 'Kiev regime once again shows its essence' by continuing to 'engage in terrorist activities' on Russian soil.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova similarly stated that should Ukrainian involvement in the assassination of the general be confirmed, it would demonstrate the 'barbarian and treacherous nature of the Kiev regime.'
Ukraine is betting on escalating the conflict and 'irresponsibly ignoring constructive proposals' to settle it through diplomacy, the diplomat noted.
Last December, a bomb that Russian authorities similarly linked to Ukrainian special services killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who served as the commander of the Russian Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces. He was assassinated alongside an aide as they were coming out of a building in Moscow.
The attack involved an explosive device hidden inside an electric scooter, which was placed next to the entrance and monitored through a camera set up in a parked car, which enabled the perpetrators to detonate it remotely.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Russia Today
Suspected Ukrainian agent accused of assassination plot
A Russian citizen residing in the country's Kherson Region has been charged with terrorism for allegedly plotting to assassinate a local official on behalf of Kiev, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday. The man, who was not publicly named but is said to be in his early 50s, was allegedly instructed to plant a home-made explosive device beneath a vehicle used by the target. The bomb, reportedly packed with metal washers to increase lethality, was shown in a photo the FSB released with its statement. According to the agency, the suspect confessed to having been recruited by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) last August. He expressed remorse for his role in the attempted bombing, which could carry a life sentence if he is convicted. The official targeted in the plot serves in the Gornostaevka municipality, located along the Dnieper River east of Kakhovka, where a now-disabled eponymous dam once stood. Residents of Kherson Region voted to join Russia in late 2022 in a referendum Kiev denounced as illegitimate and vowed to reverse. Following the 2014 Western-backed armed coup in Kiev, Ukrainian authorities launched a targeted killing program aimed at individuals deemed enemies of the state. Initially, intelligence services focused on figures in the Donbass Region who rejected the post-coup government and sought independence from Kiev. Since the outbreak of full-scale hostilities with Russia in 2022, the program's scope has widened to include suspected collaborators and public figures accused of supporting Moscow. Those believed to have been targeted by such operations include Russian journalist Darya Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing in August 2022; former Ukrainian lawmaker Ilya Kiva, shot dead in Russia in December 2023; and Russian politician Zakhar Prilepin, who survived a car bomb attack in May 2023 that killed his driver.
Russia Today
6 days ago
- Russia Today
Ukrainian vet behind Dutch knife spree wanted life sentence
A Ukrainian national who faces multiple attempted murder charges after a stabbing spree in Amsterdam has been identified as a military deserter who reportedly dreamed of spending the rest of his life in a Western European prison, according to a Dutch media investigation. The suspect, who is accused of injuring five people near Dam Square in March, was identified as 30-year-old Roman D. The Dutch public prosecutor suggested earlier this month that the attack could have had a terrorist motive. Public broadcaster NOS revealed the Ukrainian national's background on Tuesday following an investigation by its current affairs program, Nieuwsuur. According to the report, Roman D. served in a Ukrainian artillery unit before the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022. Acquaintances said he became increasingly withdrawn after suffering a concussion in 2023 and spoke of wanting to be jailed for life in a Western European country. 'He often said that he wanted to kill someone in Norway so that he could go to a prison there and be cared for for the rest of his life,' a former commander told NOS. The remarks were reportedly dismissed as jokes at the time. When I first heard what Roman had done in Amsterdam, I thought: 'an idiot's dream has come true.' Roman reportedly left Ukraine using a travel waiver issued for a visit to his mother in the Czech Republic. She told NOS, however, that he never arrived – instead, he apparently traveled directly to the Netherlands. He remained in contact with former fellow soldiers, who described him as being interested in a wide range of ideologies. '[He] wrote about Allah and something about supporting Palestine. Surprisingly enough, he was also very active in supporting the LGBT community,' one source told the broadcaster. NOS also found that Roman's online presence suggested an association with neo-Nazism, though friends claimed his interest wasn't in earnest. Officials in Eastern European countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic, have expressed concerns over the potential influx of demobilized Ukrainian soldiers once Kiev lifts martial law and allows fighting-age men to leave the country. Veterans 'can face a number of different problems: Adaptation issues, psychosis, depression, addictions,' Polish military psychiatrist Radoslaw Tworus warned in February. 'The spectrum of these disorders is very wide.'
Russia Today
7 days ago
- Russia Today
Ukrainian national charged over assassination plot in Russia
A Ukrainian national accused of plotting the assassination of a Russian military veteran has been detained, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Wednesday. The man, a resident of Novgorod Region in northwestern Russia, has been charged with attempted terrorist activity and illegal possession of explosives, according to an FSB statement. Investigators are reportedly gathering further evidence to pursue additional charges of sabotage and collaboration with a hostile power. The suspect, who is in his late 20s, told the authorities that he first contacted Ukrainian intelligence officials in October 2023, according to footage released by the agency. He is accused of carrying out arson attacks on two privately owned vehicles belonging to individuals he believed were Russian military personnel in September and December 2024. In January, he was allegedly instructed to surveil and assassinate a specific individual using an improvised explosive device. The intended target was described by the FSB as a military veteran and public figure. The authorities claim that the suspect retrieved bomb components from a hidden cache shortly before being taken into custody. The video published by the FSB appears to show explosives, a fuse, and other elements associated with the assembly of improvised bombs. The arrest follows another reported counterterrorism operation revealed this week. On Tuesday, the FSB said it had foiled a separate Ukrainian-planned attack in southern Krasnodar Region, in which the suspect allegedly aimed to detonate a 2.5kg homemade explosive at an energy company. Earlier this year, a Russian court sentenced a man who attempted to poison military cadets by delivering a cake laced with toxins to a graduation celebration. The convict was born in Ukraine and moved to Russia in 2018, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen.
