The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on May 3 that a Ukrainian military intelligence agent preparing terrorist attacks in Russia had been eliminated in the Leningrad Region. He was planning a series of terrorist attacks in Russia, including on the Russian Defense Ministry's facilities, the FSB said.
"As I was told, he left the keys one day and left [Russia in 2022] after the mobilization was announced," an acquaintance of the suspect said, adding that Surnov owned a garage in the Korolyov city near Moscow, where he was engaged in repairing cars.
Another acquaintance of Surnov, the owner of a neighboring garage, told Sputnik that the suspect "went somewhere in Lithuania." In addition, Nikolai's wife mentioned Vilnius as her place of residence on one of her social media pages.
According to the FSB, Surnov came back to the Moscow Region from Lithuania in March 2024.
On March 22, several armed men broke into the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow and started shooting indiscriminately at concert-goers. They also started a fire in one of the auditoriums, which was full of people ahead of a concert. The attack left 145 people dead and many more injured. The four main suspects in the case tried to flee the scene in a car but were detained and charged with terrorism.