Kiev's intelligence recruited a Russian national to plant explosives on a major pipeline, the agency has said

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has thwarted an alleged Ukrainian-orchestrated attempt to destroy a major natural gas pipeline in Moscow Region, the agency announced on Saturday.  

According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence recruited a 56-year-old Russian national to carry out the bombing.  

"It has been established that the citizen in question was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services in 2024 while in a temporary detention center for foreigners in Ukraine, where he was placed for violating immigration laws. The agent was sent to Russia under the guise of deportation after recruitment," the agency said.

This month, the suspect's handlers contacted him, instructing him to purchase a car and an electric drill. Kiev's intelligence also supplied him with the coordinates of a dead drop where he retrieved homemade explosive devices disguised as construction glue tubes, the FSB stated.  

The man was caught red-handed as he was attempting to drill into the ground above the pipeline to plant the explosives. After carrying out the terror attack, the suspect was expected to leave Russia and return to Ukraine through third countries, the FSB added.

Moscow has accused Kiev of staging numerous such attacks and sabotage operations targeting infrastructure across Russia during the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier this week, for instance, the FSB said it eliminated two men acting on behalf of a "terrorist group and in coordination with Ukrainian special services," who attempted to install a derailment device on a railroad bridge between Novoaltaysk and Biysk. The suspects were killed in a gun battle with FSB operatives.  

Moscow has warned that Kiev is increasingly turning to terrorist tactics as the frontline situation continues to deteriorate for Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian leadership has also been plagued by a massive corruption scandal linked to Vladimir Zelensky's inner circle. The graft affair has already led to the downfall of two Ukrainian ministers and Zelensky's right-hand man and chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.