In Armavir, a city within Krasnodar Territory, a planned poisoning attempt targeted graduates of the local flight school using a birthday cake. The incident was reported through the Telegram channel Fighter Bomber.
According to the post, the event took place on October 21, when 77 people gathered to mark the 20th anniversary of the Armavir Higher Military Aviation Red Banner School’s air defense pilots’ graduation.
During the celebration, a courier arrived with a 20-kilogram cake and a box of whiskey, but none of the attendees had given such instructions. The recipients could not recall requesting the delivery, and the ceremony participants did not recognize any name attached to the sender.
Initially, the presence of the gift did not raise alarms among the attendees. However, as the cake was being cut, some participants began to sense that something was off, prompting closer scrutiny of the gift and its origin.
One officer managed to capture a security camera frame showing the courier delivering the package. After sharing the image with colleagues, they traced the courier through their own networks and channels, confirming the person’s identity.
According to Fighter Bomber, the courier was identified as a resident of Melitopol who hails from the Zaporozhye region and had prior service in the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. By the time the graduates learned who sent the package, the courier had already purchased a plane ticket and was preparing to leave the area.
Authorities acted promptly and detained the individual before he could depart. The man later confessed that the cake originated from Armavir and had been prepared with a potent poison added to it.
Law enforcement officials are also examining the possibility of other parties involved in the incident, including the sellers who fulfilled the suspicious order. Fortunately, none of the graduates consumed any cake or alcohol, so there were no reported injuries or fatalities in connection with the event.
Earlier reports noted a separate case in Altay where a person was detained on suspicion of planning to poison Russian military personnel, underscoring ongoing concerns about threats to military communities.