Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday that its officers had neutralised a saboteur in northwestern Russia, alleging that the individual was a Russian national recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence.

According to the FSB, the man was planning to target a fuel terminal in the Leningrad region using explosives. The confrontation occurred after the accused reportedly opened fire on the security agents, leading to his death.

The FSB claimed that the man had entered Russia from Lithuania in March, following training there. This assertion was strongly refuted by Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the Head of the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Centre.

“Russia has been systematically conducting disinformation campaigns and provocations for a long time in order to raise tensions among societies and allies and to cover its aggressive actions,” he said.

“This disinformation spread by the FSB is a case in point. One of the objectives of such aggressive activities is to influence Lithuania’s support for Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his troops had taken control of 547 square kilometres of territory this year in what he called Russia’s “new regions,” a reference to four Ukrainian regions that Moscow says it has annexed.

Shoigu told senior military commanders that Ukrainian forces were retreating all along the frontline and that Russian troops were breaking what he called a network of Ukrainian strongholds.

“The Ukrainian army units are trying to cling on to individual lines, but under our onslaught they are forced to abandon their positions and retreat,” said Shoigu.

“Over the past two weeks, Russia’s armed forces have liberated the settlements of Novobakhmutivka, Semenivka and Berdychi in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he said, referring to the name Russia uses for one of the four annexed regions.

With inputs from Reuters