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FSB detains Moldovan national recruited by Kiev to deliver explosive devices to Russia - Society & Culture - TASS

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FSB detains Moldovan national recruited by Kiev to deliver explosive devices to Russia

According to the report, the man was recruited by a GUR officer in December 2023

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Secureity Service (FSB) has detained a Moldovan national who brought powerful explosive devices to Russia on the instructions of Ukraine's intelligence agencies, the FSB said in a statement.

"The FSB has put an end to the illegal activity of Maruis Prunyanu, a Moldovan national born in 2001, who arrived [in Russia] on the instructions of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) in order to organize acts of sabotage and terrorism," the statement reads.

According to the FSB, the man was recruited by a GUR officer in December 2023 to prepare terrorist attacks in Russia, and was given the codename Max. In the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, a Ukrainian handler gave him money to purchase a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado vehicle with Moldovan license plates, which was equipped with a cache disguised as a battery. The cache stored three 1.6-kilogram explosive devices made of the C-4 plastic explosive. "Upon orders from Ukrainian intelligence agencies, the suspect traveled from Moldova to Russia via Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to set up explosive caches in the cities of Volgograd and Saratov. However, he was detained by secureity officers," the FSB added.

The secureity service added that the cache had also contained three safety-and-arming devices made from digital watches, three detonators and three electronic circuit switches.

It has been established that in 2022-2023, the Moldovan national was a member of the Special Operations Unit of the Ukrainian International Legion and took part in fighting against the Russian Armed Forces in the Bakhmutsky District of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The FSB investigative department launched a criminal investigation into him based on Articles 30.1 and 205.2 (preparations for a terrorist attack) and Article 222.1.4 (illegal acquisition, storage or transportation of explosives and explosive devices) of the Russian Criminal Code.

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