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Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday it had foiled a series of what it described as unprecedented Ukrainian drone attacks targeting military air bases, a defense-industry enterprise and Defense Ministry personnel, according to state news agency TASS.
The FSB announced it had thwarted a sweeping series of planned sabotage and drone attacks orchestrated by Ukrainian special forces. The FSB's Public Relations Center told Interfax that the "unprecedented" plot directly involved Western handlers and targeted military infrastructure, a prominent defense-industry enterprise, and Russian Defense Ministry personnel.
The FSB said it had received advance intelligence that Ukrainian services planned to deliver, via aircraft-type drones and balloons carrying containers, FPV drones fitted with warheads and mobile ground control stations into Russia's Bryansk region, intended for large-scale attacks on military airfields in the Amur and Chelyabinsk regions.
According to the FSB, security operations led to the detention of those it described as perpetrators and accomplices.
The agency said it seized 24 FPV drones equipped with neural-network control modules resistant to electronic warfare countermeasures, manufactured in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Sweden, fitted with warheads carrying more than 1 kilogram of explosive material each.
The FSB said two mobile ground control stations, capable of operating via satellite, cellular, Wi-Fi, and radio channels and equipped with self-destruct mechanisms, were also seized, each containing 250 grams of explosives, along with communication equipment allegedly used to contact Ukrainian handlers.
The FSB said the seized equipment was transported by what it described as enemy agents in passenger cars towing trailers with false bottoms, loaded with household appliances, moving deep into Russian territory toward the Ukrainka air base in the Amur region and the Shagol air base in the Chelyabinsk region.
The agency said the devices were assembled and prepared for use in rented garages near the bases.
"Each unlawful action was under close operational surveillance by Russian security services and was documented," the FSB's Public Relations Center said.
The FSB's Investigative Directorate has made corresponding procedural decisions, according to the statement.
The FSB noted that under Russian law, a person involved in preparing a terrorist act is exempted from criminal liability if they contributed to preventing it and their actions do not constitute another criminal offense, citing Article 31 of Russia's Criminal Code, which states a person is not subject to criminal liability for an offense if they voluntarily and definitively abandoned completing it.
TASS reported that the foiled operation appeared similar to a 2025 attack on Russian military air bases, including Ukrainka, which the United States said had destroyed approximately 10 Russian aircraft.
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