Russia is on a high terror alert after security services shot dead two men suspected of planning a major bomb attack.
The incident happened in Russia’s northwestern city of Pskov, home to the 76th Guards Air Assault Division.
The two suspects were killed in a firefight with FSB officials as they attempted to avoid arrest.
They are reported to be from Central Asia and are suspected of plotting to bomb the main railway station in Pskov.
The FSB said the two men had conducted extensive reconnaissance of the station and the surrounding area.
They claim the suspects planned to flee abroad after the attack and that they were part of an international terrorist organisation.
However, the security officials refused to give any more details about the terror network the men were allegedly part of.
Russia was rocked by a horrific terror attack in March last year when gunmen burst into the Crocus City Hall in Moscow during a musical event.
Around 145 people, including six children, were killed in the attack, while more than 550 were injured.
The head of the FSB, Aleksandr Bortnikov, said more than 20 people suspected of involvement in the attack had been detained.
An offshoot of the extremist IS group known as Islamic State-Khorasan claimed responsibility for Russia’s worst terrorist attack in two decades.
The FSB has killed several suspects in shootouts over the past year.
In March 2024, a Belarusian national was shot dead during his arrest in Karelia, a region located to the north of Saint Petersburg.
Nikolai Alekseyev was accused of being a member of the pro-Ukrainian militia, the Kastus Kalinovsky Regiment, which is fighting against Putin’s army.
FSB officers also shot and killed another suspect while trying to arrest him in September 2024.
The suspect was accused of collaborating with Ukraine’s intelligence services.
The agency said the dead man was “a member of a Ukrainian nationalist terrorist organisation banned in Russia.”