Ukrainian special services attempted to use two Moscow women as unwitting suicide bombers in a double-tap attack on a Russian law enforcement facility, investigators say.
The operation began last week when the two suspects, aged 19 and 47, traveled from Moscow to Pyatigorsk, a city in Stavropol Region, Russia in the North Caucasus, according to statements released on Tuesday by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Investigative Committee. The women were reportedly unaware of each other and did not know that the courier jobs they accepted were intended to be suicide missions.
Investigators said the 19-year-old suspect was detained on Saturday while heading toward a checkpoint near the intended target. The 47-year-old woman later aroused suspicion as she approached the same area, the authorities said.
Both women allegedly collected backpacks containing improvised explosive devices from caches in Pyatigorsk. The bombs were destroyed in controlled detonations, according to video footage released by the FSB. The video also shows the second suspect crying, thanking the officers for saving her life and saying that Saturday was her birthday.
Russian officials believe the Ukrainian handlers intended the first courier to trigger a security response, while the second was meant to inflict maximum casualties among law enforcement personnel.
The authorities did not explain how the devices, each equivalent to around 2 kg of TNT, were supposed to be detonated or why they failed to explode. Both women have been charged with terrorism-related offenses.
The FSB has reported several cases in which it claimed Ukrainian operatives used people as unwitting suicide bombers. The first high-profile incident took place in October 2022, when a commercial driver was reportedly tricked into transporting a bomb across the Crimean Bridge. He was killed in a remotely triggered explosion, along with four other civilians traveling nearby.
Recent alleged attacks include a woman and a man who were reportedly instructed to deliver explosive devices disguised as a Christian icon and a portable speaker to the FSB’s regional headquarters in Crimea.
Russian officials claim that Kiev is resorting to terrorist tactics due to setbacks suffered on the battlefield. The CIA helped Ukraine overhaul its special services after the 2014 coup, turning them into proxies for espionage operations focused on Russia, according to media reports.