"Spreading militant ideology": FSB detained members of a terrorist organization in ten regions of Russia

The Russian Federal Security Service has detained members of the banned terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami * in ten regions of the country.

This was reported in the Center for Public Relations of the department.

The special operation was carried out jointly with units of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the members of the organization were detained in the Crimea, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Primorsky and Krasnodar Territories, as well as in the republics of Bashkortostan, Dagestan, in the Oryol, Kaluga and Ivanovo regions.

"As a result of the conducted operational-search measures, it was established that members of the structure, including through the Internet, disseminated militant Islamist terrorist ideology among the inhabitants of the Russian Federation, combined with intolerance towards other religions, and also recruited Russian Muslims into the ranks of an international terrorist organization," - reported to the FSB.

The service explained that for propaganda, the members of the organization used the doctrine of the creation of the so-called "world caliphate", established by overthrowing secular governments during military coups.

The security forces, conducting searches in the homes of extremists, seized propaganda materials “Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami”, communications and electronic media, banned in Russia.

Criminal cases have been initiated against seven detainees, and investigative actions are ongoing.

In addition, FSB officers carried out a special operation in Voronezh, where, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee, they suppressed the activities of supporters of the Ukrainian youth radical group MKU.

The members of the group, the department specified, are involved in the propaganda of the ideology of neo-Nazism, massacres and provoking interethnic conflicts.

During searches they found extremist literature, symbols of nationalist organizations and edged weapons, and in the garage of one of the detainees there was an object resembling a mortar mine during the Great Patriotic War.

In turn, the UK said that in January 2020, a 19-year-old resident of Voronezh created a criminal group with the aim of inciting ethnic hatred.

To do this, he and his accomplice used a stencil to apply extremist inscriptions to the walls of houses in different parts of the city.

One of the group members is also suspected of assaulting and beating a young man.

“Two criminal cases have been initiated against three local residents aged 18, 19 and 33 years old and other unidentified persons suspected of committing crimes under paragraph“ c ”part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (committing actions aimed at inciting hatred and hostility, as well as humiliation of the dignity of a person and a group of persons on the basis of nationality, committed publicly, by an organized group), ”the department said, specifying that the cases were combined into one proceeding.

Recall that over the past few months, the FSB has prevented a number of attempts to prepare terrorist acts on Russian territory.

The day before, the service announced the arrest of 19 supporters of the At-Takfir wal-Hijra ** organization who were planning terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus.

The radicals were detained on the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Crimea, Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region.

In addition to the planned attacks, the militants attempted to recruit local residents.

During the searches, a suicide belt with striking elements, an RPK machine gun, an AKM machine gun, cartridges and improvised explosive devices with a total weight of more than 3 kg in TNT equivalent were seized from them.

Prior to that, the security forces stopped the activities of a group of Russians who were collecting funding to support the Islamic State *** in Crimea and Tatarstan.

There, a group of people who shared the ideas of the terrorists, in the period from 2015 to 2019, under the guise of charity, collected money via the Internet, which they sent abroad to support the militants.

Criminal cases were opened against the Russians under the article on assisting terrorist activities. 

* "Party of Islamic Liberation" ("Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami") - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.14.2003.

** "At-Takfir wal-Hijra" is a religious association recognized as extremist and banned on the territory of Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 15.09.2010).

** * "Islamic State" (IS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.