Number of terror-related crimes in Russia reduced by 14%

There has been a decline in terrorism-related crimes in Russia this year, First Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman said at a board meeting of the Prosecutor General’s Office. 

He noted that the number of terror-related crimes has been reducing in 2018, as 14% less crimes were detected in the first half of the year compared to the same period of 2017. 

According to Buksman, as many as 19 terrorist attacks were prevented in Russia in the first six months of the year, 

"For the first time in several years, there has been a decline in extremism-related crimes," TASS cited the deputy prosecutor general as saying.

President of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-Terrorism Unit, member of the Civic Chamber Sergey Goncharov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that terrorism remains the number one problem worldwide, as evidenced by recent events in Russia and the whole world.

According to him, the prevention of 19 terrorist attacks is a good result in the current situation. "But at the same time, we see that the situation, especially in the North Caucasus, is quite tense. So we can't relax," the expert said.

"It seems to me now that the threat of terrorist activity will only grow, because the militants leaving Syria will not cease their activities, but simply go to other countries, regions, they can even change forms of terrorist activity. So, unfortunately, there is still a threat of terrorism for Russia," he warned.

Sergei Goncharov pointed out that recently, Russian special services have faced many difficult tasks. "Russia hosted the Olympics, the presidential election, and now the World Cup. The secret services chiefs assured that they are doing everything to ensure that no terrorist acts happen and I believe that they fulfilled their promises, and we are very grateful for this," President of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-Terrorism Unit said.

The expert drew attention to the fact that there is only one measure to fight against terrorism effectively - an excellent agent-operational work. "The prevention of terrorist acts is simply impossible without this component," Sergei Goncharov concluded.

Head of the Analytical Section of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, Alexander Khramchikhin, in turn, explained that there will always be a terrorist threat in Russia because of the actions of extremists. At the same time, according to him, it does not matter whether it comes from outside or grows inside the country, since terrorism has acquired an international character.

The expert also expressed the opinion that the prevented attempts of terrorist acts could be connected with the holding of the World Cup in Russia. "For them (terrorists - VK) it would be quite natural," he said.

The head of the Analytical Section of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis stressed that measures to combat terrorism have not changed: these are forceful suppression, ideological and informational suppression, both within the policy within the state and internationally.