Russia's FSB Foils Ukrainian Chemical Weapons Terror Plot in Zaporozhye Region

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) thwarted a planned terrorist attack in the Zaporozhye region that would have involved the use of a BZ chemical warfare agent analogue, adding that three citizens of Ukraine were detained, the security agency announced on Tuesday.

"Russia's Federal Security Service foiled an attempt by the Ukrainian special services to commit an act of terrorism in the Zaporozhye region using an analogue of the BZ chemical warfare agent per NATO classification. The seized substances are used to create chemical weapons of mass destruction and were developed in the US. Three citizens of Ukraine were apprehended," the FSB said in a statement.

The Investigation Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia has opened and is investigating a criminal case under Article 355 (Development, production, stockpiling, acquisition or sale of weapons of mass destruction) and Article 205 (Terrorist act) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

During a briefing held a week ago by Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, who heads the Russian Armed Forces' radiological, chemical, and biological defense forces, revealed the discovery of a Ukrainian stockpile containing an analog of the poisonous chemical agent BZ in Melitopol.

At the briefing, Lieutenant-General Kirillov stated that the substance was found on January 28, stored in vials labelled "Biosporin" in Ukrainian. According to publicly available information, BZ is a toxic psychochemical warfare agent, causing acute psychosis, disorientation, and hallucination.