MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal inquiry on financing of terrorism in view of transfers of millions of U.S. dollars to Ukraine for staging acts of terrorism in Russia, the committee said on Tuesday.
"A criminal case has been opened into indications of a crime covered by Russian Criminal Code Article 205.1, Part 4 (financing of terrorism)," the committee said on Telegram.
"It has been established that money coming through business organizations, particularly the Burisma Holdings oil and gas company operating in Ukraine, has been used over the past several years for committing acts of terrorism in Russia and beyond with the purpose of eliminating prominent political and public figures and causing economic damage," it said.
In collaboration with other services and financial intelligence bodies, the investigation "is probing sources which the money amounting to several million U.S. dollars came from and its further movement, as well as involvement of particular individuals from government bodies, nongovernmental and business organizations in Western countries," it said.
The Investigative Committee said in late March that it "will duly consider the address from State Duma members [Andrei] Krasov, [Nikolai] Kharitonov and [Yana] Lantratova, as well as public figures [Alexander] Dugin and [Andrei] Derkach, urging an investigation into the organization, financing and perpetration of terrorist attacks by the U.S. and other Western countries targeting Russia."
The Prosecutor General's Office also pledged to respond to the address that concerned "the investigation into instances of organizing and funding a number of terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation, and an act of international terrorism, the blasts of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, traced back to individuals and entities in the U.S., Germany, France and Cyprus."
"The materials will be closely studied, after which the use of international legal cooperation mechanisms will be considered," the office said.
The Investigative Committee said later that it began probing the information presented in the address, and the Prosecutor General's Office said it forwarded the information and requests for legal assistance to said countries.