MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - Russia held nearly 600 individuals criminally liable in 2016 for being engaged in terrorist activities in Russia and abroad, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said.
"As many as 584 individuals faced criminal penalty in 2016 on counts of participation in illegal armed groups and terrorist organizations in Russia and abroad," Chaika said at a Prosecutor General's Office annual board meeting in Moscow on Tuesday.
"For sure, this was among the prerequisites that proved instrumental in averting terror attacks," he said.
"Virtually all crimes of the sort registered last year were stopped at the plotting stage," he said.
As to the prevention of terrorism and extremism in Russia, the prosecutor said, "The situation remained generally controllable last year."
"The measures taken by law enforcement agencies seriously damaged rings and their accomplices in the North Caucasus," Chaika said.