Ukrainian drone attack intercepted, Russia says

An alleged Ukrainian drone attack targeting civilian infrastructure was intercepted in Moscow on Tuesday, a day after Russia's intelligence agency claimed to have thwarted an assassination attempt on the head of the Crimea region.

Russian authorities said air defenses intercepted five Ukrainian drones that forced a number of flights to be diverted from the Vnukovo airport serving the capital, an incident that Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed on Tuesday.

It was "an attempt to attack an area where civilian infrastructure is located, including the airport", Zakharova said in a Telegram post.

In her statement, Zakharova said Vnukovo airport receives overseas flights and called the alleged attack "yet another act of terrorism".

No casualties or damage occurred as a result of the drone interceptions, Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier.

The drone attack was carried out one day after Russia's intelligence agency said it had thwarted an assassination attempt on the head of the Crimea region.

"An assassination attempt organized by Ukraine's special services targeting the head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, was foiled," Russian state-run news agency TASS reported, citing a statement by the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

Operational and investigative activities enabled the identification of a Russian national born in 1988, who had been recruited by officers of Ukraine's Security Service, and received sabotage and reconnaissance training in Ukraine, particularly in the study of mines and explosives, the FSB said.

According to the FSB, the Ukrainian agent arrived in Crimea in June and began preparing to stage a terrorist attack — to blow up the car of the head of the region.

Video footage released by the FSB showed masked agents detaining a man outside, after which they opened a sack bag containing what is described as an "explosive device".

"The bomber failed to follow through with his criminal plans, as he was detained while removing an explosive device from a cache," the statement added.

In an interrogation video, the man, whose face was blurred, said he had been recruited by Ukraine's Security Service in December and had undergone training courses on subversive activities and explosives in Ukraine.

Separately, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made his first public comments on Monday since the failed mutiny of the Wagner Group.

"The plans primarily failed because the personnel of the armed forces showed loyalty to their oath and military duty," he said.

He also said Russian military personnel serving in Ukraine had "courageously and selflessly continued to handle the tasks assigned to them".

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was a firebrand critic of Shoigu prior to his attempt to oust Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Several senior Russian officials have not appeared in public since the incident, including Gerasimov and General Sergey Surovikin, fueling rumors of their possible ouster.

Meanwhile, the European Union is considering a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank to set up a subsidiary to reconnect to the global financial network as a sop to Moscow, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Agencies contributed to this story.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn