Russia thwarts Ukrainian terror plot against Crimean head
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has reportedly foiled a Ukraine-planned assassination attempt on the head of Crimea, insisting that the scheme was organized by the Ukrainian special services.
"An assassination attempt on the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, organized by the Ukrainian special services, has been thwarted,” an FSB statement declared on Monday as quoted in a report by Sputnik News, noting that the suspect was caught red-handed while retrieving the stashed-away bomb and taken into custody.
“A citizen of Russia, born in 1988, who was recruited by the Ukrainian Security Service and took a course in reconnaissance and subversive activities on the territory of Ukraine, including training in mine blasting, was detained," the statement further explained.
According to the report, Russian law enforcement authorities have opened a criminal case against the suspected perpetrator on charges of bomb possession and terrorism.
Crimea and Sevastopol became Russian regions following a referendum held in March 2014, in which nearly 97 percent of participants voted for reunification.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with Aksyonov and other officials signed a treaty on March 18, 2014, on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation. Under the treaty, all the residents of Crimea are recognized as citizens of Russia unless they signed an application stating that they wished to retain Ukrainian citizenship.
After Crimea four more regions, including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, separated from Ukraine and made their choice in referendums to become part of the Russian Federation.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions had already been recognized as independent states by Russia before Moscow launched its ”special military operation” in Donbas in February 2022 to protect its people against Kiev's persecution.
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