Russia claims to foil Crimea ‘terror attacks,’ blames Kiev

The Russian intelligence agency FSB said on Wednesday that one of its employees and a soldier were killed in separate incidents in Crimea described as foiled terrorist attacks.

The FSB said in a statement that its officer was killed late on Saturday outside the town of Armyansk, within miles of the de-facto border between Crimea and Ukraine, when they engaged with what were described as Ukrainian “saboteurs.” The FSB said it found 20 bombs, ammunition and mines in the area of the attack.

The agency said two more groups of “saboteurs” tried to force their way into Crimea late on Sunday, with Ukrainian artillery and armored personnel carriers covering for their attempted raid. The FSB said one Russian soldier died in the incoming fire.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 following a hastily called referendum.

The FSB on Wednesday described the incidents as “foiled terrorist attacks” and accused the Ukrainian military intelligence of plotting to target crucial parts of Crimea’s infrastructure.

“Steps have been taken to destroy an agent network of the Chief Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian defense ministry in the Crimean peninsula,” the statement said.

The Ukrainian government reported during the weekend that Russia briefly closed its border crossings with mainland Ukraine, and social media users earlier this week posted photos and videos of dozens of armored vehicles on Crimean highways heading toward the de-facto border.

The FSB also said it had arrested a number of Russian and Ukrainian citizens suspected of plotting attacks, including one identified as a Ukrainian intelligence officer from the southern Zaporizhzhya region.

An adviser to the head of Ukraine’s security agency, Yuriy Tandit, denied the allegations, telling the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that Kiev had no intention of taking back the territory “by force.”

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, monitoring the frontier between mainland Ukraine and Crimea — which Russia annexed in 2014 — did not report the incident, but said car traffic was halted this week and border guards appeared to be on “heightened alert.”

Earlier this month international monitors reported increased fighting between Ukrainian government troops and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The FSB said it had stepped up security measures around the peninsula following the alleged incidents.