Man detained over car blast that killed Russian officer – FSB
A man has been apprehended in Donetsk on suspicion of planting a bomb under a Russian officer’s car, while working for Ukrainian intelligence, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.
The vehicle exploded in the main city of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic last week, killing the officer and wounding his wife, the agency said in a statement on Sunday.
A local resident was detained at his home as a result of joint actions by the FSB, the Interior Ministry, the National Guard, and Russia’s Investigative Committee, the statement read.
The suspect allegedly planted an improvised explosive device, and detonated it remotely when the victim and his wife got inside the vehicle.
The FSB published CCTV footage, in which the suspect could be seen attaching the bomb to the bottom of the SUV, and the subsequent blast.
It also released a video of the detained man, confessing that he had “established contact with the Ukrainian special services. After that, I detonated a bomb under the car on December 9. I know that a man died and his wife was injured. I regret what I did.”
“I understand that I am expendable. Everyone who is working with the Ukrainian special services will be detained and will get their deserved punishment,” he said.
A representative of the Investigative Committee told RIA Novosti news agency that the suspect had been offered $10,000 by Ukrainian operatives to carry out the assassination.
The FSB said the investigation is continuing, to identify other persons involved in the officer’s killing.
Last month, Russian law enforcement agencies arrested two people in the city of Sevastopol in Crimea over the assassination of Captain 1st rank Valery Trankovsky, who served as deputy commander of the Azov branch of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Trankovsky was the victim of a similar bomb plot, when his car exploded while he was driving to work. The suspects confessed their guilt and said that they were cooperating with the Ukrainian intelligence services.
