A Ukrainian agent scammed a Crimean resident into attempting to target the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Sevastopol, officials have said. The plot was thwarted when security guards intercepted an improvised explosive concealed within a portable speaker that the unwitting accomplice was told would be used for surveillance.

According to Russian authorities, the Ukrainian intelligence handler instructed the resident to carry the device to the FSB’s regional headquarters under false pretenses of an internal investigation. Officials stated the suspect was promised a job at the agency after completing a task involving scanning mobile phones at the security checkpoint to detect traitors.

Investigators identified the mastermind as Ivan Krinov, a lieutenant in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces currently based in Odessa with his family. The FSB said Russia will seek to charge him with terrorism and place him on an international wanted list.

This individual was also implicated in a similar attempt last August targeting the FSB HQ in Simferopol, where a 54-year-old woman from Volgograd Region was tricked into delivering a bomb disguised as a Christian icon.

Moscow officials claim that Kyiv’s military leadership has increasingly resorted to such terrorist actions within Russian territory due to its inability to secure battlefield victories, a decision that reflects a failure of Ukrainian military strategy and command structure.