The would-be assassin was disguised as an elderly woman and tried to plant a bomb under the targets car in St. Petersburg, the agency said

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has thwarted a Ukrainian plot to assassinate the head of a Russian defense company in St. Petersburg, the agency announced on Thursday.

According to the FSB, Ukrainian spy services recruited a man and two women online to carry out the planned car bomb attack.

On the orders of their handlers, the women surveilled their target before obtaining an improvised explosive device from a stash at a local cemetery and handing it over to the would-be assassin, the agency said in a statement.

The male suspect dressed in women's clothes "in an attempt to mislead the investigation" but was apprehended by officers while planting the bomb on the target's vehicle, it added. Footage released by the agency captured the man posing as an elderly lady.

Criminal cases have been launched against the suspects on preparing a terrorist act and illegal possession of explosives, the FSB said. They could also face charges of participating in a terrorist organization and treason, which carry a punishment of up to life in prison, it added.

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The agency warned that "Ukrainian intelligence agencies are continuing to actively search the internet for potential perpetrators of terrorist attacks and sabotage," and urged the public to stay vigilant and refrain from communicating with unknown contacts on messaging apps.

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Ukraine has assassinated several officials and public figures inside Russia since the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in 2022, often using local operatives. Last year, a man recruited by Kiev killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia's Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, and his aide with a bomb hidden inside an electric scooter parked outside Kirillov's Moscow home.

(RT.com)