The Russian intelligence service FSB says it has foiled an attack on Sergei Aksyonov, the pro-Russian leader of Crimea.
Ukrainian intelligence services are said to have hired and trained a Russian man to carry out a bomb attack on Aksyonov’s car. That man would have been arrested.
Aksyonov was one of the driving forces behind the referendum that led to the (internationally unrecognised) secession of the peninsula in 2014 and was subsequently appointed governor by Russia. In a statement, he expressed his thanks to the Russian security services.
“Our intelligence services work clearly and efficiently. I am sure that the specific perpetrators of this crime will be found and punished.” Aksyonov also further emphasised that “it is only possible to eliminate the terrorist threat from Kyiv by fulfilling the objectives of the special military operation”.