Terrorist plot foiled in Russia's Kaliningrad
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced the arrest of a suspect who allegedly planned to carry out a terrorist attack on a Victory Day parade in the western exclave of Kaliningrad on May 9.
According to a press release by the agency on Friday, the 25-year-old voluntarily joined a terrorist organization and intended to detonate an explosive device on the route of a parade column of military personnel.
The orders were reportedly given to the suspect by a Ukrainian on the messenger Telegram, as confirmed by his correspondence with an alleged member of the organization.
The suspect has now been arrested and faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of assisting terrorist activity and assisting sabotage.
A video published by the FSB along with the press release shows security personnel arresting the suspect, as well as his confession. In the clip, the detained man admitted that in April he had contacted a person located in Ukraine and was given the task of surveilling the parade rehearsal at Victory Square in Kaliningrad.
On May 5, several days before the parade, the suspect said he had taken pictures of where people and military equipment were gathered, for which he received $150 in cryptocurrency. The Ukrainian then allegedly instructed the man to place an explosive device and promised him a $205,000 reward.
The alleged terrorist plot is one of several that were reportedly planned by Ukrainian operatives ahead of Victory Day celebrations in Russia earlier this month.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin also informed his US counterpart Donald Trump that Russia's security services had foiled several terrorist attacks near the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow ahead of the May 9 events. According to presidential aide Yury Ushakov, the Russian leader told Trump that Ukraine had 'directly threatened foreign participants in the [Victory Day] festivities [and] attempted to... prevent their arrival in Moscow.'
Previously, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky had stated that Kiev could not guarantee the safety of foreign officials visiting the Russian capital. This warning was followed by more than 500 kamikaze drones and UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles being launched by Ukraine's forces targeting multiple Russian regions, including the capital.
Putin reportedly told Trump that the 'masterminds behind those threats [are] those who celebrate Nazi criminals,' according to Ushakov.
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