Russia's FSB detains woman over alleged car bomb plot

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it has prevented a planned terrorist attack in Moscow, detaining a 30-year-old Russian woman accused of attempting to target a security services officer.

The suspect was apprehended while allegedly placing an improvised explosive device under the vehicle of the intended target, according to a statement from the FSB’s Public Relations Centre cited by TASS.

“It has been established that the suspect, via the Telegram and WhatsApp messaging applications, established contact with a handler to whom she communicated her willingness to participate in terrorist activities in exchange for assistance in relocating for permanent residence to one of the European Union countries,” the FSB said.

The agency added that the suspect “on the instructions of a representative of a Ukrainian special service first travelled via Türkiye and Moldova to Ukraine, where she received training in conducting sabotage and terrorist activities, then returned to Russia, where she retrieved an explosive device from a cache on the outskirts of Samara and arrived in the Moscow region to carry out the terrorist attack.”

By Tamilla Hasanova