Russia-Ukraine latest: NATO ‘considering shooting down missiles near the border’; Russia suggests UK-US had a hand in the Moscow assault.

Russia’s FSB chief, Alexander Bortnikov, has indicated Britain, the US, and Ukraine could have been involved in the Moscow music hall bombing, which killed more than 130 people on Friday. Listen to a daily audio about how UK-made cars are going into Russia while you scroll.

Details are being uncovered of a hidden assassination plan “possibly” organized by Ukraine’s national spy service to take out Ukrainian people collaborating with Russia.

In an hour-long televised interview, the SBU’s commanding officer, Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, said Ukrainian spies had targeted “very many” people guilty of war crimes and attacks against Ukrainian nationals.

He also revealed an uncommon glimpse into an assassination campaign organized through networks of secret agents and clandestine operatives, taking out Ukrainian nationals and partnering with the Kremlin to arrest and torture other Ukrainians.

Mr. Malyuk said Ukraine could not claim responsibility for the killings publicly, telling national channel ICTV: “Officially, we will not admit to this. But at the same time, I can share some details.”

He said SBU leadership will collaborate with national-level law enforcement and intelligence organizations to identify targets and ascertain whether they are involved in crimes against Ukrainians.

Once the intelligence has been confirmed, the SBU will be sanctioned to carry out the assassination by civilian authorities, Mr. Malyuk said.  Perhaps the most high-profile killing was that of Ukraine-born Vladlen Tatarsky, a Kremlin propagandist and media figure.

Mr. Malyuk said he was targeted for his military experience fighting against Ukraine and his calls for the extermination of Ukrainians. The propagandist was killed when he was handed an explosive-rigged figurine at a St. Petersburg cafe in April of last year.

The intelligence commander said operatives had fooled an intermediary, a young woman, into transferring the statue to Mr. Tatarsky.

Mr. Malyuk claimed the SBU would not accept responsibility for the assassination, but Mr. Tatarsky deserved it because of his serial torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Another high-profile execution was that of former Ukrainian parliament member Ilya Kyva, who railed against Ukrainian independence and was a fugitive from Kyiv authorities.

Ms. Kyva had been convicted of treason and was collaborating with Russia’s FSB when she was slain by an assassin who shot her at close range, Mr. Malyuk said.

Ukrainian national Zakhar Prelepin, a prominent police official in a “separatist” government supported by the Kremlin in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk area, was also targeted.  Mr. Prelepin had called publicly for the murder of Ukrainians, Mr. Malyuk added.

He survived an explosion at his country residence in Luhansk, which killed several other cops gathering there in September 2022.  Mr. Malyuk said he was left with severe damage to his stomach.

Another top police official in the Luhansk region working with Russia, Igor Kornet, also escaped an explosion that hit a barber shop in May 2023.

Mr. Malyuk noted another high-profile assassination attempt, this time against Russian political scholar and close Vladimir Putin loyalist Aleksandr Dugin.

The attempt failed when Mr. Dugin switched cars with his daughter, who was killed in a device placed by operatives. Russian air defence units have killed 18 airborne objects over the southern region of Belgorod, the regional governor has claimed.

One person was injured, and there was damage to private homes and cars, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, has endured frequent bombardment from Ukraine over the past few months.

At the beginning of the year, roughly 25 people were killed in the largest attack in the region.  There have also been a handful of raids into Belgorod.