Three men suspected of planning a terrorist act in the Stavropol region of Russia have been arrested by the Russian security service FSB.
The security service states that they planned an explosion at a large crowd.
– Those arrested have been detained and their homes have been searched. Parts of an explosive device were found, Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov writes on Telegram.
According to the Russian security service, the three men must be citizens of a country in Central Asia.
The arrests are said to have taken place in the city of Stavropol, which shares its name with the region in southwestern Russia, and several seizures are said to have been made. Components for an explosive charge and chemical substances should have been found. The FSB states that the plans were to detonate an explosive device at a crowd in the Stavropol region.
Overpowered by the security service
Photos from the arrest published by the FSB show how at least two of the men were overpowered and wrestled down by several agents from the security service. The film also shows how two of the suspected perpetrators bought nails in a shop.
Several of the seizures are shown in a picture published by the security service. Next to a military rucksack is a box of nails, several bottles of water, tape, ID documents and two mobile phones.
– Thanks to the security forces for their coordinated work and the successful operation, writes Vladimir Vladimirov on Telegram
New arrests linked to the attack in Moscow
The news of the arrests in Stavropol comes just a week after the terrorist attack on a concert venue in Moscow in which more than 140 people were killed.
Several people have been arrested, suspected of involvement in the crime, and on Friday nine more people were arrested in Tajikistan, TT reports. They were also suspected of involvement in the attack and were arrested in a suburb of the capital Dushanbe.
The suspicions are stated to be that they had contact with the main suspected terrorists or with the terrorist group IS. The four men who are in custody in Moscow and are considered to be the main suspects originally come from Tajikistan. Is has previously recruited many Tajiks into his movement.
IS-K claimed responsibility in Moscow
Although the terrorist group Islamic State in Khorasan early claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow, Putin blamed Ukraine for the attack. Only on Monday, Putin announced in a speech that radical Islamists were behind the act.
– We know by whose hands this atrocity was committed against Russia and its people. We are interested in who ordered it, Putin said, continuing to accuse Ukraine of involvement in the attack.
Several prerogatives for Ukraine have spoken out and refuted all accusations that they were involved in the act.