The suspects were receiving instructions from an emissary located in Poland, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service
Several members of a terrorist cell operating in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Region have been detained by law enforcement officials, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Monday.
The group consisted of seven citizens of an unnamed Central Asian state, according to a press release by the agency. The suspects are said to have been acting on the instructions of a foreign emissary of an international terrorist organization, presumably located in Poland. The FSB has not disclosed the name of the organization in question.
The members were ordered to disseminate terrorist ideology among local Muslims and labor migrants in Nizhny Novgorod Region, located about 400 km east of Moscow. The end goal was to seize power in order to establish a “global caliphate,” the FSB said, adding that the suspects were also recruiting supporters during secret meetings.
The FSB published a video alongside the press release showing the detention of the seven individuals, as well as raids on their homes. Investigators are said to have seized illegal propaganda materials, means of communication, and electronic storage devices used by the cell members for their terrorist activities.
The FSB’s Investigative Department for Nizhny Novgorod Region has now opened criminal cases against the two leaders of the terrorist group, while its rank-and-file members have been placed under administrative arrest and will soon be deported to their country of origin.
Earlier this month, the FSB also reported disrupting the activities of a teen-led terrorist group in Stavropol Region, which is located close to majority-Muslim areas of Russia in the south of Russia where officials say radical Islamist movements continue to pose security risks.
The group reportedly planned to attack police officers at multiple locations during Victory Day celebrations on May 9. Officials did not disclose the name of the terrorist organization to which the teens had pledged loyalty.
