MOSCOW. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Followers of the Khatiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad terrorist organization, banned in Russia, have been detained in Moscow and Krasnoyarsk for recruiting and sending fighters to Syria and spreading radical ideas, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday.
"The FSB of the Russian Federation, acting together with the Interior Ministry's branches in the cities of Moscow and Krasnoyarsk, has put an end to the activity of an interregional cell of the Khatiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad terrorist organization (banned in Russia by a ruling of the Moscow District Military Court in 2019), has detained four persons from among its ringleaders and rank-and-file members," the FSB said.
According to the FSB, the detained cell members "were recruiting and sending recruits to combat zones, financing members of the terrorist network in the Syrian Arab Republic, and calling for terrorist crimes."
"Propaganda videos of Khatiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, communication devices, electronic media and bank cards used for the illegal activity were found and seized during detention," the FSB said.
The investigative division of the FSB territorial branch opened a criminal case, it said, without specifying the charges.
The FSB also withheld the identity of the detainees.