Russia says it has arrested four people suspected of preparing bombs to kill senior defense officials

Russia’s top security agency said on Thursday it had arrested several suspects accused of involvement in a plot to assassinate high-ranking Ukrainian military personnel. the assassination of a high-ranking Russian general last week.

The KGB’s top successor, the Federal Security Service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, has arrested four Russians accused of plotting to kill senior Defense Ministry officials, Russian news agencies said in a statement.

The FSB said that those suspected of organizing the attacks planned to use a remote-controlled car bomb to kill one of the high-ranking officers. He added that another high-ranking military official was to be killed by an explosive device hidden in an envelope. The agency did not release the names of the military personnel targeted in the alleged assassination.

The FSB released a video showing the arrest and interrogation of unnamed suspects.

The statement was issued after the death of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked in front of his apartment building on December 17, on his way to his office. Kirillov’s aide was also killed in the brazen attack, which was claimed by Ukraine and brought the conflict back to the streets of the Russian capital.

FSB arrested the suspectThe Central Asian man claimed he was a citizen of Uzbekistan and had been recruited by Ukrainian special services.

54-year-old Kirillov was the head of Russia’s Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces. These special forces are tasked with protecting the military against the enemy’s use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and operating in a contaminated environment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the killing of Kirillov a “big blunder” by the Russian security services and noted that they should learn from it and improve their efficiency.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday Russia launched a massive missile and drone strike Targeting Kiev’s energy infrastructure, the heat struck a power plant, prompting many to seek refuge in subway shelters on Christmas morning.

The Russian Defense Ministry has launched a “massive strike” on critical energy facilities supporting the work of Kiev’s military-industrial complex in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

The Russian attack left half a million people without heat in Kharkiv Oblast, where temperatures were slightly higher, and power outages in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere, Reuters added.

According to the Reuters agency, as a result of the strikes, at least 6 people were injured in Kharkiv, and one person died in Dnepropetrovsk region.

In his statement on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than 100 attack drones were used to strike Ukraine’s energy sources.

Putin deliberately chose Christmas for the attack. What could be more inhuman than that?” Zelensky said. “They continue to fight for them Blackout in Ukraine.”

On Wednesday, US President Biden condemned Russia’s attack, saying that “the purpose of this heinous attack is to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heating and electricity during the winter and to jeopardize the security of its grid.”