The Russian domestic intelligence service FSB claimed on Tuesday that it had foiled an attempt by Ukraine to smuggle explosives into Russia.
The explosives were hidden in Orthodox icons and other objects for church use, the FSB said in Moscow.
There is no independent confirmation of this story, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov picked up on it and levelled accusations at Ukraine. "This is another worrying signal that impressively demonstrates the terrorist methods used by the Kiev regime," said Peskov, according to the TASS news agency.
The FSB announced that the Ukrainian-made icons packed with explosives were seized in a car on the border between Latvia and Russia. The car had previously travelled from Ukraine via Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania.
The find was said to include 27 explosive devices disguised as icons, 70 kilograms of plastic explosives and 91 detonators.
A video released by the secret service allegedly shows where the dangerous cargo was hidden in the small images of saints.
There are indications that Ukraine's secret services are directing commando operations in Russia. For their part, the Russian secret services are currently having to prove their worth, following the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall near Moscow on March 22, which left more than 140 dead and which apparently caught them completely unprepared.
