Russia's top security agency said Thursday it has arrested several suspects accused of involvement in a Ukrainian plot to assassinate senior military officials, an announcement that follows the the killing of a senior Russian general Last week.
The Federal Security Service, the KGB's main successor known by its Russian acronym FSB, said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that it had arrested four Russians accused of preparing for high-ranking officials Kill the Ministry of Defense.
The FSB said the suspects in the attacks planned to kill one of the senior officers using a controlled car bomb. He said another top military officer was to be assassinated with an explosive device hidden in an envelope. The group did not name the military officers who were targeted in the alleged plot.
The FSB released a video showing the arrest and interrogation of the suspects, who have not been named.
The statement comes after the death of Lt. Gen Igor Kirillov who was killed on December 17 by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter that was parked outside his building while he was going to his office. Kirillov's aide also died in the fierce attack that was claimed by Ukraine and brought the conflict once again to the streets of the Russian capital.
The FSB has arrested a suspectis a citizen of the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, and said he said he was recruited by Ukrainian special services.
Kirillov, 54, was the head of Russia's Radiological, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces. These special forces are tasked with protecting the military from the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and ensuring operations in a contaminated environment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described Kirillov's killing as a “major mistake” by Russia's security agencies, noting that they should learn from it and improve their effectiveness.
At the same time, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that Russia launched a massive missile and drone barrage targeting Kyiv's energy infrastructure, hitting a thermal power plant and prompting many to take refuge in metro shelters on Christmas morning.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it carried out a “major strike” on what it said were critical energy facilities in Ukraine that support the operations of Kyiv's military-industrial complex, Reuters reported.
The Russian attack left half a million people in the Kharkiv region without heat with temperatures just above zero Celsius and blackouts in the capital, Kyiv, and elsewhere, Reuters reported.
The strikes injured at least six people in Kharkiv and killed one in Dnipropetrovsk region, the governors there said, according to Reuters.
In a statement on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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 to attack. What could be more inhuman?” Zelenskyy said. “They keep fighting for it blackout in Ukraine.”
US President Biden denounced the Russian attack on Wednesday, saying that “the purpose of this terrible attack is to cut off the access of the Ukrainian people to heat and electricity through the winter and putting the safety of the grid at risk. “
