Two suspects in railway sabotage plot shot dead by Russian security services

Officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) have shot dead two people suspected of preparing to commit sabotage on a railway line in the Altai region of southern Siberia, the FSB press service reported on Monday.

A video released by the FSB shows the suspects arriving at the site in an SUV, after which the FSB officers arrive and engage in a shootout with the unidentified men.

According to the FSB, security forces noticed two suspects who were about to lay a “derailing device” on a section of railway track between the stations Altayskaya and Biysk, east of the regional capital Barnaul, on Saturday. The two men then put up armed resistance as officers attempted to detain them and were killed in the resulting shootout, the report says.

The two dead men were local residents recruited by representatives of an unnamed terrorist organisation via the Telegram messenger app to carry out a sabotage operation in return for payment, according to the FSB.

The FSB said a criminal case had been opened on charges of sabotage, making an attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer and the illegal acquisition, storage and possession of firearms and ammunition.

The regional Investigative Committee, however, made no mention of the sabotage charges as it announced that a criminal case had only been opened on Monday.