'New tactic' — Ukraine thwarts Russian plot to kill prominent army unit commander
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has foiled a Russian plot to kill Serhii Filimonov, the commander of the 108th Separate Mechanized Battalion "Da Vinci Wolves," the agency reported on July 29.
The plot was orchestrated by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), which used false-flag tactics and psychological manipulation to recruit a Ukrainian national, according to the SBU.
The Da Vinci Wolves battalion, founded during the volunteer wave at the onset of Russian aggression in 2014, has grown into one of Ukraine's most effective combat units. Filimonov is a well-known figure among Ukraine's military leadership.
The FSB enlisted a resident of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast by posing as SBU personnel and tricking the man into thinking he was working for Ukraine's interests.
According to SBU, the suspect believed he was assisting in the killing of a Russian collaborator when, in fact, he was being directed to assassinate a decorated Ukrainian commander.
"This is a fairly new tactic from Russian intelligence," the SBU said. "The FSB manipulated the patriotic beliefs of a Ukrainian who believed that he was helping the Ukrainian security service."
The FSB first contacted the man via social media, posing as an SBU officer. They falsely claimed the man had purchased medicine from a company that financed the Russian military and threatened him with prosecution for high treason.
To avoid the fabricated charges, he was offered a chance to "cooperate," which included traveling to Kyiv to assist with surveillance operations. The FSB handler convinced the man that Filimonov was a "traitor" responsible for Russian missile strikes on Kyiv.
The suspect rented an apartment near Filimonov's residence, tracked his vehicle, and sent regular photo updates to his handler, unaware he was aiding Russian intelligence.
The man received a Kalashnikov rifle from a weapons cache on the outskirts of Kyiv and was ordered to carry out the assassination. SBU operatives arrested him before he could act.
Investigators recovered the rifle and communications with his FSB handler from his phone.
The announcement follows warnings from Ukrainian drone warfare commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, who said Russia attempted a coordinated strike targeting Ukrainian drone unit leaders.
The plot against Filimonov appears to be part of a broader Russian effort to eliminate key figures within Ukraine's military leadership through covert operations.
