On Friday, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of a female suspect believed to be planning a bombing targeted at law enforcement during Victory Day celebrations in Dagestan, a republic in the North Caucasus.

The FSB characterized the 28-year-old detainee as a “supporter of an international terrorist organization that is prohibited in Russia”, though it did not disclose the specific group involved.

During searches of her residence, authorities reportedly discovered explosives and electronic devices that contained communications with a member of the extremist organization.

The woman was said to have intended to detonate an improvised explosive device in the Khasavyurtovsky district of Dagestan, which is adjacent to Chechnya to the west.

The state-run news agency TASS released a video in which the woman purportedly admits to receiving orders from someone named “Abdullah” to take photographs of buildings and to acquire components for explosives. She claimed to have encountered him in an “Islamic group” on the Telegram messaging platform.

“I was to either plant [the explosive device] or carry out a suicide bombing,” she stated.

She indicated that the planned attack was to take place on May 9, coinciding with nationwide events honoring the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Currently, it is not possible to independently verify the FSB’s statements, and it is unclear if the woman spoke voluntarily or under pressure.

The FSB has not confirmed whether the woman has been officially charged with a crime.

The agency frequently reports on its success in preventing potential terrorist actions.

In the early 2000s, female suicide bombers known as “black widows” were responsible for numerous attacks in Russian cities and on various transportation systems, all linked to an Islamic insurgency that intensified in Dagestan and the broader North Caucasus following two wars fought by Moscow against separatists in neighboring Chechnya.