FSB detains foreign national and eight others over drone-related terror plots

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained a foreign national while he was attempting to leave for Norway, the FSB press service said.

He had sought to launch a drone from a Moscow railway station to identify railcars carrying petroleum products, the FSB added.

The press service also said that eight people had been taken into custody over plans to carry out a terrorist attack using 35 FPV drones against a strategic enterprise in the Moscow Region.

TASS has gathered the key facts about the incidents.

Detention of foreign national

- FSB officers detained a foreign national in the Murmansk Region for violating the rules for entering a border zone, the FSB said.

- The detainee was heading toward the Russian-Norwegian border.

- Investigators determined that he had voluntarily made contact with Ukrainian intelligence services through Telegram in 2023.

- On their instructions, he travelled to Moscow, where he used an FPV drone at a railway station to reconnoiter government buildings, transport infrastructure and places where civilians gathered.

- After preparing to carry out sabotage and terrorist attacks, he flew from Moscow to Murmansk in order to illegally cross the border into Norway, the FSB said.

Confession

- The foreign national detained over the attempted FPV drone launch at a Moscow railway station confessed.

- He said he was an expert in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and artificial intelligence.

- He also admitted submitting applications to Ukraine's territorial defense forces and Ukrainian Telegram channels in order to work for the country’s intelligence services.

Legal action

- A criminal case has been opened under Article 205, Part 2(a) of the Russian Criminal Code, covering terrorist attacks.

- He has been placed in custody.

Investigation into foiled terrorist attack near Moscow

- Eight people - the alleged perpetrator and accomplices - have been remanded in custody over preparations to attack a strategic enterprise in the Moscow Region with 35 FPV drones, the FSB said.

- They were taken into custody in a criminal case opened under Article 205, Part 2, covering terrorist attacks, and Article 205.4, Part 2, covering participation in a terrorist community, of the Russian Criminal Code.

- In July, the FSB said it had thwarted an attempt by Ukrainian intelligence services to attack a strategic defense enterprise in the Moscow Region with drones.

- The drones were to be launched from a rented hangar that had been prepared for the operation by two Moldovan nationals who later left Russia.

- The drones were smuggled into Russia from Slovakia through Poland and Belarus with the involvement of intelligence agencies from European countries.

- The FSB said Ukrainian and US citizen Albert Vasilyev, a Ukrainian video blogger and rapper known as Kyivstoner, was involved in organizing the foiled terrorist attack and directed the accomplices.