The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the thwarting of two bombings near a security agency building in Pyatigorsk. Law enforcement officials claim the two women acted on "instructions from Ukrainian intelligence services, not realizing they would be used as suicide bombers."
According to investigators, the women arrived in Pyatigorsk from Moscow and intended to commit terrorist acts on the orders of their Ukrainian handlers. Each acted independently and was unaware of their intended use as suicide bombers. The first, born in 2006, was walking toward a security agency building carrying a backpack containing an improvised explosive device. She was stopped, and the bomb was defused. The second woman (born in 1979) was then detained nearby. According to the FSB, she was also supposed to bring a similar device and detonate it while investigators were already at the scene.
One of the detainees stated during interrogation that she was looking for part-time work online. In June, an unknown person "with a pronounced Ukrainian accent" contacted her and offered her a high-paying job. Her handler instructed her to deliver a backpack to a law enforcement facility. She only learned that the bag contained an explosive device after her arrest. Both defendants were remanded in custody for two months.
