MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, a source told RIA Novosti that the law enforcement officers of the city of Moscow and Moscow Region led a large-scale operation that resulted in the arrest of 20 people suspected of extremism.
"The operation was conducted by three organizations at once, FSB [Russia's Federal Security Service], the Ministry of the Interior…, with the National Guard of Russia fighters providing armed back-up. According to the preliminary data, 20 people were detained," the law enforcement source said.
According to the source, the detained were members of an organized group and mostly came from former Soviet countries.
Later on, the Russian FSB detained 12 more people on suspicion of links to terrorist organizations.
"Officers of the Center on Counteracting Extremism of the Main Department of Interior Ministry in Moscow along with colleagues from the Center on Counteracting Extremism of the Russian Interior Ministry and FSB [Federal Security Service] servicemen detained 12 people, who are active members and leaders of one on the terrorist organizations," a press service’s representative told RIA Novosti.
