Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow says Kyiv plot to kill high-ranking officer with music speaker bomb foiled
09.21 CET Russia says it has foiled Ukrainian assasination plot
Hello and welcome to the Ukraine live blog. We start with news that Russia?s Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has foiled a plot by Ukraine to kill a high-ranking Russian officer and a pro-Russian war blogger with a bomb hidden in a portable music speaker.
According to the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, a Russian citizen had established contact with an officer from Ukraine?s GUR military intelligence agency through the Telegram messaging app.
On the Ukrainian intelligence officer?s instructions the Russian had then retrieved a bomb from a hiding place in Moscow, the FSB claimed. The bomb, equivalent to 1 1/2 kg of TNT and packed with ball bearings, was concealed in the portable music speaker, the FSB said.
The FSB did not name the officer or the blogger who was the target. Ukraine?s GUR military intelligence agency could not be immediately reached for comment.
Ukraine says Russia?s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state and has made clear it regards targeted killings - intended to weaken morale and punish those Kyiv regards guilty of war crimes - as legitimate.
Russia has said they amount to illegal ?acts of terrorism?.
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