The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says that on Jan. 20 it detained two men plotting to assassinate a Ukrainian member of parliament by placing a bomb in his car, Vasyl Grytsak, head of the SBU, said at a briefing on Jan. 21. “According to our information, the assassination was prepared and controlled by Russia,” Grytsak said.

Although Grytsak refused to reveal the lawmaker’s name because a key suspect remained at large, People’s Front lawmaker Anton Gerashchenko said he was the target. Later in the day, Interior Ministry advisor Zoryan Shkiryak also claimed that the killers targeted Gerashchenko, who is also an adviser to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.