Russian FSB Foils Alleged Ukrainian Plot to Bomb Car on Crimean Bridge

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced it had thwarted what it described as an attempt by Ukrainian special services to blow up a car on the Crimean Bridge.

According to the FSB, a Chevrolet Volt containing a concealed high-power improvised explosive device entered Russia from Ukraine through several countries and crossed the Russian-Georgian border at the Verkhniy Lars international checkpoint in North Ossetia-Alania.

The vehicle was reportedly transported toward Krasnodar Krai on a car carrier driven by a private driver, who the FSB said was unaware of the contents. The plan, investigators claim, was to hand over the car to another individual, who would drive it across the Crimean Bridge without knowing he was carrying explosives, effectively becoming an “unwitting suicide bomber.”

“Despite the tricks of the Ukrainian terrorists, the FSB managed to uncover their plans in a timely manner, identify and defuse the explosive device, and detain all those involved in its delivery to the territory of our country,” the agency stated.

A criminal case has been opened. Russian authorities said all organizers and accomplices will face punishment.

The FSB noted this was the second attempted car-bomb plot against the Crimean Bridge in a year. On April 2, Belarusian security forces intercepted a minibus carrying more than half a ton of synthetic explosives at the Brest customs checkpoint. Days later, Belarus announced it had stopped the largest explosives shipment in its history — 580 kilograms of foreign-made material, allegedly of U.S. origin — that was bound for Russia.

In both incidents, drivers transporting the vehicles were reportedly unaware of the explosives and could have been used as “suicide bombers,” according to officials.