The woman had allegedly been instructed by Russian agents to kill the kickboxer, having been offered $10,000 to $40,000 for the job. Ukrainian officers have detained a woman accused of plotting on behalf of Russian intelligence to assassinate a dissident who fought for Ukraine and now coaches kickboxing in Kyiv. The SBU, Ukraine’s Security Service, did not publicly name the intended target, describing him only as a Russian man who has fought for Ukraine since 2022 — first in the Kyiv region, then on the eastern front — and now heads a nationwide Ukrainian civic organization. Ukrainian outlets, citing law enforcement sources, identified him as Akhmad Akhmedov, president of Ukraine's K-1 kickboxing federation. "In this way, Russia sought to kill a Russian opposition figure who had fought for Ukraine since 2022," the SBU said in a statement. How the plot allegedly unfolded According to the SBU and Ukrainian prosecutors, the suspect — a 30-year-old woman from Russian-occupied Melitopol, in southeastern Ukraine — crossed into Ukrainian-held territory via Belarus in August. She then made contact with FSB officers, who instructed her to kill the target – thought to be Akhmedov – offering between $10,000 to $40,000 for the job and the promise of immunity from prosecution in occupied territory. After settling in Kyiv, she studied her target's movements and picked up a Glock 17 pistol from a weapons cache, using coordinates supplied by her handlers. Investigators say she planned to shoot him in an ambush near the gym where he coaches. She was detained on September 1 while allegedly scouting the area, the SBU said. Officers seized the pistol, 17 rounds of ammunition, and two phones allegedly used to communicate with Russian intelligence. Prosecutors have charged the woman with high treason committed under martial law, an offence that carries up to life imprisonment and confiscation of property. She is being held without bail. Under Ukrainian law, she is presumed innocent unless convicted in court. Part of a wider pattern The case is one of several alleged Russian-linked assassination plots targeting Ukrainian officials, soldiers and activists reported this year. In August, Polish authorities arrested a Russian national accused of plotting to kill a US-Ukrainian dual national in Warsaw. In June, Ukrainian police said they had stopped a plan to kill Andrii Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence agency, using an explosive-laden drone — the second such plot against him reported this year.
