Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on December 11 that its officers had arrested 18 people it alleges are pro-Ukrainian agents suspected of planning assassinations of Russian-installed officials in Ukraine's Russian-annexed Crimea. They include the peninsula's de facto governor, Sergei Aksyonov; the speaker of Moscow-controlled Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov; and the de facto mayor of the Crimean city of Yalta, Yanina Pavlenko. In October, the FSB said it detained a man in Crimea on suspicion of plotting an assassination of Russian-friendly former Ukrainian lawmaker Oleh Tsaryov. Last week, Ukrainian authorities claimed responsibility for the killing near Moscow of pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Illya Kyva. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Crimea.Realities, click here.
Russia Says 18 Arrested In Crimea Over Alleged Plan To Assassinate Russian-Installed Officials
Russian President Vladimir Putin (third left) makes a speech standing with Crimean parliamentary speaker Vladimir Konstantinov (second left), then-Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov (fourth left) and other top officials in Sevastopol in 2014.