Russian Security Announces Foiling of Two Bombing Attacks in Moscow
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that its forces had thwarted two planned bombing attacks in the Russian capital.
According to an official security statement, a militant linked to terrorist organizations operating outside Russia was killed. The statement said he had prepared an explosive device to detonate inside a Moscow metro station and had also planned a similar attack on a synagogue in the outskirts of the city.
Security agency reports indicated that authorities tracked the militant, successfully surrounded him, and killed him before he could carry out the attacks. The unidentified militant was reportedly of Central Asian origin and held Russian citizenship. He had embraced extremist ideology and planned the bombings using improvised explosive devices, following instructions from a manual found in his home during a security raid.
Investigations revealed that the militant intended to flee to Afghanistan after executing the attacks, as indicated by messages discovered on his mobile phone. The phone also contained maps showing the location of the targeted synagogue, along with instructions and directives from extremist groups operating outside Russia.
At the militant’s residence, security forces discovered firearms and explosive materials used for making bombs. The FSB also released footage of his body following the operation.
This marks the second announcement within a week of a foiled terrorist bombing in Russia. Notably, the frequency of such security reports increased significantly in February, reflecting a growing terrorist threat in the country since the beginning of the year.
According to Russian security agencies, the uncovered threats fall into two main categories:
- Attacks allegedly orchestrated under the direct supervision of Ukrainian intelligence services.
- Attacks linked to radical Islamist cells affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations.
Last week, the FSB announced it had thwarted an assassination attempt in Moscow targeting Tikhon Shevkunov, the Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea. Russian authorities accused Ukrainian intelligence of planning the attack.
An FSB statement said, “A Russian and a Ukrainian citizen, recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence, were arrested while plotting a terrorist attack against Metropolitan Tikhon of Simferopol and Crimea. A homemade bomb and Ukrainian passports were seized from the suspects.” Moscow claimed that the detainees had confessed to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence to assassinate the bishop while he was in Moscow.
This development follows another recently foiled attack targeting a senior official in the Saratov region near the Russian border. Security services reported that their forces had “eliminated a Ukrainian intelligence operative who was preparing the attack.”
The FSB stated that the terrorist had undergone special training in Kyiv and had been dispatched to Russia to carry out terrorist operations. He allegedly retrieved an explosive device from a pre-arranged stash and was planning to use it to bomb an official Russian government vehicle.
Shortly before this incident, Russian security agencies announced they had thwarted a series of planned terrorist attacks in the city of Stavropol. Authorities claimed that a Central Asian national had been assigned by Ukrainian intelligence to carry out the attacks.
An FSB statement said, “Federal security forces in Stavropol have prevented a series of terrorist acts planned by a citizen from one of the Central Asian countries.” The statement added that the suspect was affiliated with a Ukrainian paramilitary organization and had acted under the supervision of a handler based in Ukraine. He allegedly planned to attack multiple government buildings, including those of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the military commission, a military hospital, and an industrial administration office in Stavropol, using Molotov cocktails.
In mid-February, Russian security forces announced the dismantling of a jihadist cell that had planned to bomb a train station in the northwestern Pskov region.
According to an FSB statement, “The Russian Federal Security Service in Pskov has disrupted the activities of a cell belonging to an international terrorist organization. The cell’s members, originating from a Central Asian republic, had planned to bomb a railway station in the region.”
The statement added that the suspects had scouted the area and gathered materials to assemble an improvised explosive device before their plot was foiled.
All members of the cell were killed during the operation, according to the FSB, though their exact number was not disclosed. The agency stated that the suspects “resisted arrest when security forces attempted to detain them.”
