Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Monday that a 'terrorist cell' in southern Russia has been dismantled. The FSB reported that four individuals suspected of being part of this cell were apprehended in Dagestan, a province in the North Caucasus region.
According to the FSB, the detained suspects are believed to have provided weapons and financial support to the perpetrators of the deadly attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22. This attack resulted in the tragic loss of 144 lives, marking it as the deadliest assault on Russian soil in the past two decades.
The agency stated that the detained militants played a direct role in funding the individuals responsible for the Moscow concert hall attack and supplying them with the necessary tools for carrying out the act of terror. One of the suspects confessed to personally delivering weapons to the attackers in Moscow.
A video released by the FSB showed one of the suspects discussing plans for an additional attack in Kaspiysk, a city in Dagestan. However, it remains unclear whether this confession was made by the same individual who admitted to supplying weapons to the Moscow assailants.
The FSB revealed that the detained suspects are foreign nationals, although their specific nationality was not disclosed. Notably, the individuals arrested in connection with the March 22 attack in Moscow were citizens of Tajikistan, a Central Asian country.
Following the arrest of the four suspected gunmen and seven others allegedly linked to the concert hall assault, the detention of the four individuals in Dagestan marks another significant development in the ongoing investigation.
An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. While President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the involvement of 'radical Islamists' in the incident, he made unsubstantiated claims suggesting Ukrainian and Western involvement, despite strong denials from Kyiv.
