MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's top security agency said Thursday that it has arrested several suspects accused of involvement in an alleged Ukrainian plot to assassinate senior military officers, an announcement that follows the killing of a top Russian general last week.
The Federal Security Service, a top KGB successor known under its Russian acronym FSB, said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that it had arrested four Russians accused of making preparations to kill senior Defense Ministry officials.
The FSB said that the suspected organizers of the attacks were planning to kill one of the senior officers using a remotely controlled car bomb. It added that another top military official was to be assassinated by an explosive device hidden in an envelope. The agency didn't name the military officers who were targeted in the alleged plot.
The FSB released a video showing the arrest and interrogation of the suspects, who weren't named.
The statement follows the death of Lt. Gen Igor Kirillov who was killed on Dec. 17 by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building as he left for his office. Kirillov’s assistant also died in the brazen attack that was claimed by Ukraine and brought the conflict once again to the streets of the Russian capital.
The FSB has arrested a suspect, a citizen of the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, and claimed that he said that he had been recruited by Ukrainian special services.
Kirillov, 54, was the chief of Russia’s Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces. These special troops are tasked with protecting the military from the enemy’s use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and ensuring operations in a contaminated environment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described Kirillov’s killing as a “major blunder” by Russia’s security agencies, noting they should learn from it and improve their efficiency.
Investigators work near a scooter at the place where Lt. General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Forces and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov were killed by an explosive device planted close to a residential apartment's block in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo)
Americans still dreaming of a really big Christmas present can keep that dream alive during Friday's Mega Millions drawing for a jackpot worth an estimated $1.15 billion. Friday’s jackpot will potentially be the fifth largest in the game's history. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. But the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, and the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, according to lottery officials. Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Here is a look at the largest U.S. jackpots won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:
1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
2. $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket, from California)
3. $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)
4. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
6. $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
8. $1.326 billion, Powerball, April 7, 2024 (one ticket, Oregon)
9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024 (one ticket, from New Jersey)
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)
A person makes their lottery ticket selections on a self-serve terminal inside a gas station ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The option to play the $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot is seen on a self-serve terminal inside a gas station in Baltimore, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A person retrieves a Mega Millions lottery ticket from a self-serve terminal ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A person inserts cash into a self-serve terminal while holding their play slip ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A person fills out a Mega Millions play slip ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A billboard advertising the $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot is seen in Baltimore, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Oscar Flores, left, works behind the counter next to a sign advertising the estimated $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A Mega Millions lottery ticket is displayed at a store on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Tigard, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A sign advertising the estimated $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot, right, is displayed at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Fidel Lule buys a MegaMillion lottery ticket at Won Won Mini Mart in Chinatown Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Rob, right, buys a Mega Millions ticket at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
