Moscow announces foiling plot to bomb officials in telecommunications sector
Russian authorities announced on Friday that they had foiled a plot to carry out a bombing against officials of the state-run telecommunications regulatory authority Roskomnadzor, amid growing tensions related to internet restrictions in the country.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the plan was to detonate a car with an explosive device targeting leaders in the organization, stressing that the operation was thwarted before it reached the implementation stage.
The agency revealed that seven people, believed to be supporters of far-right and neo-Nazi ideas, were arrested during raids carried out last week.
The statement indicated that the group was recruited via the "Telegram" application by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, according to the Russian version. The statement also explained that the group's leader, a young man born in 2004, was killed during the operation after trying to resist arrest with a firearm.
Internet Restrictions and App Conflict
The scheme coincided with the expansion of Roskomnadzor's powers, which took drastic measures to curb the use of global messaging apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp, with the aim of pushing users towards the state-backed local Max app.
Authorities have also imposed additional restrictions on virtual private networks (VPNs) and implemented frequent internet shutdowns in Moscow and other major cities, citing security concerns related to countering Ukrainian drone attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday defended the internet shutdowns, stressing during a government meeting that they were exceptional measures imposed by the current circumstances to protect citizens and prevent terrorist attacks. Despite domestic criticism from the economic and banking circles over the impact of these outages on banking and transport services, Putin stressed that the priority remains national security.
Tomsk Memorial Crisis
A diplomatic crisis has erupted between Moscow and four European countries (Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) following the removal of a monument in the Siberian city of Tomsk dedicated to commemorating the victims of the Soviet-era "Great Terror."
The four countries accused Russia of trying to "erase historical memory" after dismantling the "Stone of Sorrow" complex, which commemorates those executed between 1937 and 1938.
In a joint statement, the European embassies expressed their protest, demanding the return of the memorial and stressing the need to preserve the sites of memory to prevent the recurrence of past tragedies.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not comment directly on the incident, but noted that the Baltic states had previously removed monuments to the Soviet army, considering it a historic transgression that would be met with countermeasures.