IED event in Ukraine on Mon 2nd February 2026

Russian authorities say a Ukrainian agent scammed a Crimean resident into unknowingly taking part in a planned terrorist attack targeting the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Sevastopol, a plot they claim was successfully thwarted. According to the FSB, a Ukrainian intelligence handler persuaded the local man to carry a portable speaker to the agency’s regional HQ, telling him it would be used for surveillance during a supposed internal counter-espionage operation. Officials said the speaker in fact concealed an improvised explosive device intended to detonate at the site, but security guards intercepted it and discovered the explosives before they could be triggered.

The FSB released what it said were recordings of instructions from the handler, who allegedly promised the man a job with the agency if he completed the task. The operation was described as lasting only a few minutes and involved scanning mobile phones at the headquarters’ security checkpoint to identify traitors. Russian investigators claim they have identified the Ukrainian agent behind the plot, whom they also accuse of orchestrating a similar attempt last August to bomb the FSB headquarters in Simferopol, in which a 54-year-old woman from Volgograd Region was allegedly tricked into delivering an explosive disguised as a Christian icon.

The FSB named the suspected mastermind as Ivan Krinov, described as a lieutenant in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces based in Odessa with his family. Authorities said Russia will seek to charge him with terrorism and place him on an international wanted list. The security service urged Russian citizens to remain vigilant against what it described as Ukrainian recruitment scams, claiming such operations eliminate witnesses and avoid paying promised rewards. Moscow officials also asserted that Kiev is increasingly resorting to attacks inside Russia due to failures on the battlefield.