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Lithuania says it foiled an international plot to kill 2 activists

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanian authorities say they have foiled an international plot to kill an activist who has supported Ukraine in its fight against Russia and an exiled Russian citizen who has favored independence for his home region.

The prosecutor general’s office on Monday said 13 suspects from Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Moldova and Russia were involved in the plot involving “preparation to murder two people for terrorist purposes.”

Nine suspects have been arrested in Lithuania and abroad, and the whereabouts of the other four are known by Lithuanian authorities, officials said.

They allegedly worked together to scout out the activists’ homes and workplaces and share advice on acquiring a weapon.

Prosecutors identified the targets as Valdas Bartkevičius and Ruslan Gabbasov.

An investigation was opened when Gabbasov contacted authorities early last year after he discovered a tracking device left on his car by an unidentified person. Weeks later, most of the suspects were detained by an anti-terrorism unit, officials said.

Bartkevičius told The Associated Press he believes he was targeted for his activism supporting Ukraine, for entering parts of Russia’s Kursk region while it was under control of Ukrainian forces and for urinating on a war memorial there.

Gabbasov, who hails from Russia’s Bashkortostan region, says he believes he was targeted because he calls for the region’s independence. He has received political refugee status in Lithuania and is wanted by Russian authorities.

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” could come to negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas, without Iran's direct oversight sparked the crossfire now gripping the region. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran insists it alone must govern the strait after the war, upending decades of the world considering that the strait was international waters free for all, despite its sitting in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Oman route, backed by a United Nations agency, in recent days. Early Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
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