FSB Uncovers Ukrainian Assassination Scheme Against Saratov Official, Target Remains Unnamed

On Thursday, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had foiled a Ukrainian assassination attempt aimed at an unnamed official in the southern Saratov region. This comes amidst unverified reports suggesting that the governor of the area may have been the intended target.

According to a statement from the FSB, agents shot and killed an alleged Ukrainian operative who “resisted arrest with a weapon” while attempting to retrieve an explosive device from a storage location. The agency indicated that the suspect was planning to use the explosive to detonate the state vehicle of the government official.

Video footage released by state media depicted law enforcement personnel beside a blurred deceased individual at what appeared to be a construction site, showing bullet casings and a firearm.

In the latter part of the video, agents were seen searching an unoccupied apartment, where they uncovered components for explosives, documents in the Ukrainian language, and Ukrainian currency.

The FSB reported that the suspected plotter was a Russian citizen who had been recruited by Ukraine in 2024, receiving “special training” in Kyiv before being dispatched to Russia to execute “terrorist operations.”

The agency did not specify who the planned target was.

Local news sources in Saratov, such as Sarinform and Vzglyad Info, citing unnamed informants, alleged that the target of the assassination plot was Governor Roman Busargin.

When local media sought comments, Busargin’s press office neither confirmed nor denied these reports, and the governor himself has refrained from making any public statements regarding the allegations.