Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained in Moscow members of the so-called sleeper cell of the ISIS international terror group outlawed in Russia, who planned to carry out terrorist attacks in some crowded places, the FSB Public Relations Center said.
"After the investigative activities conducted in the Moscow region on September 30, 2017, the Federal Security Service has foiled the illegal activity of a clandestine cell of the ISIS international terror group," the FSB Public Relations Center said.
"It was established that the cell’s members planned to carry out some high-profile terror attacks in the form of blasts in some crowded places and transport infrastructure facilities," TASS cited the FSB as saying.
All members of the cell have been detained. "Two powerful ready-to-use improvised explosive devices have been found and seized in their apartments," the Public Relations Center said. In addition, FSB officers seized items for manufacturing explosive devices, two PM pistols, two RGD-5 grenades and communications equipment.
According to the FSB, the cell run by foreign emissaries "included Russian citizens from the North Caucasus region who are the proponents of the unification of all Muslims with a view to establishing the so-called worldwide Islamic caliphate," the Public Relations Center added.
"Information on the detained individuals is not disclosed in the interests of the investigation," the FSB noted.
President of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-Terrorism Unit, Sergey Goncharov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the operations conducted by the FSB make it clear that the Russian special services work successfully. "We liquidate or at least arrest members of those formations that were planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Moscow. In any case, the threat will grow as the terrorists are dispersing from Syria to other countries," he warned, calling the Ukrainian border the most problematic route.
"The border with Ukraine is absolutely free for crossing. I think that the ISIS tries to send its and foreign emissaries to Russia via Ukraine. This process will continue, and I do not think that it will weaken in the near future. In any case, Russia's special services should remember that the terrorist threat will only grow," Sergey Goncharov sressed.
The terrorist network of the FSB is opened by a well-developed intelligence network. "At the moment, there is nothing more useful than a good intelligence-operative apparatus of special services." The operational network gives us the opportunity to prevent these acts of terrorism," the President of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-Terrorism Unit concluded.
The editor-in-chief of the newspaper 'Journalistic Truth', Vladislav Shurigin, also said that the threat of terrorist attacks in Moscow is extremely acute now. "There is a war against us, groups are constantly formed, their organizers actively search through the Internet for people ready to act against Russia. So, of course, any such disclosure is a serious success, but no one can guarantee that this situation not will happen again," he said.
"In this case, we have a huge experience. We have been fighting the terror on our and foreign territory for more than 27 years. In addition, Russia's special services have modern equipment systems and search algorithms, modern methods of work and technology. This is a complex, which gives certain advantages. Of course, new ways are constantly sought to get around this. That's why it's a continuous war," Vladislav Shurygin noted.
