MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Daesh jihadist group, infamous for its rampant violence and banned in many countries, including Russia, is known for its successful online propaganda and social media recruitment, which primarily target young people from around the world.
"We need to broaden the range of criminal and legal measures to stop illegal actions of terrorist organizations related to recruitment on the Internet. With that in mind, to consider the criminalization of the possession of such [recruitment] materials, their collection or uploading from the computer," Bastrykin wrote in the article for Russia's Kommersant-Vlast magazine.
He added that modern technologies allow the law enforcement to present evidence to the court of the connection between the accused and the relevant electronic communication, such as communication via social media.
Russians Enter Areas of High Terror Activity Through Turkey, Egypt
Russian nationals reach areas of high terrorism activity mainly through Turkey and Egypt, Alexander Bastrykin said.
"The main channels for Russian nationals to the areas of high terrorism activity pass through Turkey and Egypt, where they get to either directly or through third countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova) disguised as travellers or on the pretext of getting theological education…"
Over 1,000 Russians Joined Fighting in Syria in 2015, 135 Died
More than 1,000 Russian nationals left for Syria in 2015 to take part in the armed conflict, 135 of them died, Bastrykin also said.
"[In 2015], over 1,000 Russian citizens left for the Syrian Arab Republic to take part in the armed conflict. A total of 469 criminal proceedings have already been initiated. 135 of them died as a result of fighting with Syria's government forces."
Number of Terrorism-Related Crimes in Russia Grew by 36% in 2015
The number of terrorism-related offenses reported in Russia has increased by 36.3 percent in 2015 in comparison with the previous year, while the number of extremist crimes grew by almost 30 percent, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee said.
"A total of 1,329 extremist crimes were registered, which is by 28.5% more than in 2014 (1,034 crimes). The growth in the number of such crimes was noted in 56 constituent entities of the Russian Federation."
The number of terrorism-related crimes committed on the territory of the Russian Federation saw a 36.3-percent increase last year, according to the official.
"A total of 1,538 [terrorism-related] crimes were recorded (there were 1,128 crimes in 2014)."
According to the Russian official, the majority, or over 75 percent of these crimes, were committed in the North Caucasian Federal District.
