Russia's FSB security service has thwarted a planned Ukrainian drone attack from inside Russia on a key element of Moscow's air defence system and on an electricity facility, the FSB said on Monday, saying it had arrested two men involved in the plot, Reuters reported from Moscow on October 26.

Source: Reuters, Oct 26, via Duke FM

The two men, who the FSB said were from the South Caucasus region and had been acting under instructions from Ukraine's SBU security service, had retrieved first-person-view drones and explosives from two Russian regions, delivered them to the Moscow region, and configured and activated the drones, the FSB said. The drones were to be remotely controlled from Ukraine, it said.

Source: Reuters, Oct 26, via 93.5 The Lloyd

2 menArrested, according to the FSB — said to be from the South Caucasus
2 targets named by the FSBA key component of Moscow's missile defence system, and an electricity infrastructure facility
FPV drones + explosivesWhat the FSB said the men retrieved from two Russian regions and brought to the Moscow region

"It has been established that one of the suspects was recruited by an SBU officer and, on that officer's instructions and in return for a promised monetary reward, travelled to Russia to prepare and carry out a sabotage and terrorist attack. To this end, he enlisted the help of an acquaintance from his close circle," the FSB said. "The suspects were detained by FSB officers while preparing to carry out a terrorist attack on an electricity infrastructure facility and on one of the key components of Moscow's missile defence system," it said. Both quotations are the FSB's own wording, reported by Reuters.

Source: FSB statement, via Reuters, Oct 26

What has not been verified

There was no immediate comment from the SBU or from Ukraine, Reuters reported. Anewz's live coverage of the war on Monday also carried the FSB item at 08:30 GMT, summarising the same Reuters/Interfax reporting that Russia said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on air defence infrastructure in Moscow. No independent source has confirmed the plot, the recruitment account or the intended targets, so this story reports the FSB announcement as an attributed claim, not as settled fact.

Source: Anewz live blog, Oct 26, 08:30 GMT update

Reuters noted the wider context the FSB announcement sits in: Ukraine has intensified its attempted drone attacks on the Russian capital in recent months, as Russia has stepped up its own attacks on Ukrainian power and other infrastructure targets. That context is reported background, not evidence for or against this specific alleged plot.