Article

Introduction

On Monday, Russian intelligence agencies said they thwarted a Ukrainian assassination attempt on the ruler of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, by planting an explosive device in his car.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), in a statement released by local news agencies, said an assassination attempt on Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov organized by Ukrainian security services had been thwarted, noting that a man had been detained as part of the investigation. in an attempt.

Detention and Investigation

A Russian citizen born in 1988 was detained on suspicion of recruitment by “agents of Ukrainian intelligence (SBU),” the same source said, stressing that the man “continued training in sabotage intelligence in Ukraine, including explosives.”

“The bomber did not have time to carry out his criminal intent, because he was detained when he received an explosive device from a hiding place,” he added.

Aksyonov wrote on Telegram: “Special services work transparently and efficiently. I am sure that we will find and punish the instigators of this crime,” thanking the FSB of Russia for “preventing the assassination attempt.”

Crimea Targeting

It is noteworthy that since the attack on the Crimean bridge on October 8 last year (2022), the Ukrainian peninsula, which Russia annexed to its power, without international recognition of this move, has been subject to several attacks, most of them by drones, especially in Sevastopol.

While Moscow was pointing its finger at Kyiv, the latter was mostly silent.

Last June, Russian-appointed officials in the Kherson and Crimean regions confirmed that Ukrainian forces launched a missile attack on a bridge linking Kherson in southern Ukraine with Crimea.