(MENAFN) Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Wednesday that two Russian nationals were killed in a shootout with law enforcement while attempting to retrieve an improvised explosive device (IED) from a hidden cache near Moscow. According to the FSB, the pair were acting as accomplices to Ukrainian intelligence and had planned to use the explosive in a terrorist attack targeting a Russian military officer.

Authorities stated that surveillance footage and evidence from the scene confirmed the device was operational and ready for use. Investigators also found detailed information about the plot on the suspects’ mobile phones. The case is now being treated as a criminal offense involving the illegal possession of explosives.

While the FSB regularly announces the prevention of terror plots allegedly orchestrated by Ukraine’s intelligence services, most suspects are typically captured alive. However, there have been exceptions, particularly when radicalized individuals with connections to international terrorist groups are involved.

In a similar case in April 2024, the FSB reported that two Central Asian suspects had planned to attack an oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod Region using first-person-view drones armed with explosives. The suspects were allegedly guided by a Ukrainian operative and instructed to retrieve the necessary equipment from a cache.

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