FSB Shoots and Kills Man Suspected of Trying to Assassinate Roskomnadzor Officials

Russia’s FSB security service said Friday that its agents shot and killed a man suspected of planning to assassinate senior officials at Roskomnadzor, the state regulator behind the country’s increasingly aggressive internet restrictions.

Law enforcement authorities claimed the plot was a “terrorist act” orchestrated by Ukraine to “disrupt Russia’s information security measures.” The assassination attempt allegedly involved a car bomb targeting high-ranking employees of Roskomnadzor.

The FSB identified the would-be assassin as a 20-year-old Moscow resident. According to a statement, the man was killed on April 18 after he opened fire on agents during an attempted arrest.

Footage released by state media showed the man’s blurred body on the ground next to a handgun equipped with a silencer.

The FSB arrested seven other people suspected of being involved in the plot, with agents carrying out raids in the cities of Novosibirsk, Ufa and Yaroslavl. Those individuals face charges of illegal arms trafficking and terrorism.

Authorities also accused unidentified foreign intelligence agencies of radicalizing young Russians and inciting hatred toward the government.

“Roskomnadzor leaders and their family members are receiving death threats,” the law enforcement agency said. “Armed attacks are being carried out, and terrorist acts are being prepared.”

News of the shootout and arrests comes just a day after President Vladimir Putin made his first public statement about the widespread mobile internet blackouts that have frustrated people across Russia in recent months.

Putin defended the restrictions as a necessary shield against drone strikes and terrorist activity, warning that providing the public with advance notice of the disruptions would only tip off criminals.