41 ringleaders, 241 militants and 606 accomplices were detained: the NAC reported on anti-terrorist operations in 2019

Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the Russian Guard in 2019 managed to detain 41 terrorist leaders and 241 ordinary militants. This was stated by Igor Kulyagin, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) at a press conference in the Russia Today MIA.

“During the counter-terrorist operations and combat operations, 32 bandits were neutralized. Including 9 leaders. 41 leaders, 241 militants and 606 accomplices of terrorists were detained, ”he said.

In addition, the security forces stopped the activities of 78 cells of banned organizations, whose members "planned to commit terrorist acts at social facilities and attacks on employees of state power structures."

Law enforcement officials also uncovered and liquidated clandestine weapons manufacturing workshops.

“The forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Russian Guard eliminated 83 illegal workshops for the production and conversion of weapons. A large number of weapons, ammunition, explosives, explosive devices that the attackers planned to use in the implementation of their criminal intentions were withdrawn from illegal trafficking, ”added Kulyagin.

Thus, according to him, the security forces managed to prevent “57 crimes of a terrorist nature, including 34 terrorist acts” at the stage of preparation.

Radicalism and the Internet

NAC spokesman Andrei Przhezdomsky, for his part, reported on the dangers of extremist information posted on the Internet.

“There is an increase in self-radicalization, when, without visible external influence, young people receive information from the Internet and begin criminal activity. And our task is to identify such moods among adolescents, ”Przhezdomsky emphasized.

So in Kazan, a student was identified who was planning the murder of classmates. He even shot a video about an allegedly committed crime. The teenager was transferred to home schooling and established full control over him. The same measures were taken against a first-year student who studied the ABC of a home terrorist and also considered the possibility of killing classmates.

According to Przhezdomsky, young people are in the zone of attention of recruiters. At the same time, as Kulagin noted during a press conference, recruiters primarily pay attention to adherents of Islam. In addition, those who have already served their sentences for terrorist crimes are often involved in illegal activities.

According to Przhezdomsky, it is necessary to protect young people from propaganda of extremism on the net.

“Of course, terrorist and extremist content on the network needs to be“ closed ”- to stop its circulation so that young people do not see it, and to hold accountable (the one) who places it,” said the NAC official.

Przhezdomsky also noted the need to replace extremist content with positive.

Terrorism Prevention

According to the NAC, over the past five years, the number of terrorist crimes in Russia has decreased significantly. It is not only about terrorist acts and hostage-taking, but also about the preparation of such crimes, the recruitment of people in extremist organizations, and public calls for terrorism.

“From 2015 to 2019, their number decreased by 9 times,” said Igor Kulyagin, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the NAC.

Moreover, the media played an important role in the fight against terrorist ideas.

“This is clearly evidenced by high-quality documentaries created by journalists, a series of reports on anti-terrorism issues. Such work of the journalistic community on the prevention and prevention of terrorism seems very important, and it needs to be continued and supported, ”Kulyagin emphasized.

Earlier, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov said that as a preventive measure, anti-terrorist content is created and disseminated in the media and on the Internet. According to him, in the first half of 2019, more than 75 thousand materials were published, including about 400 videos with the participation of people who abandoned terrorist activities. In addition, according to the NAC at the end of 2019, as part of the Comprehensive Plan to Combat the Ideology of Terrorism for 2019-2023, “more than 12 thousand targeted preventive measures were carried out with people exposed to terrorist propaganda, about 14 thousand events with people serving punishment for committing crimes, about 35 thousand events with labor migrants. "