"Sixty-nine terrorism-related crimes have been prevented so far this year, 36 of which terrorists planned to carry out in public places. Over 350 members of illegal armed groups have been detained," said Alexander Bortnikov, who is also director of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
He said in 2008 over 170 militants, including 13 group leaders, had been killed during counter terrorist operations in the North Caucasus.
Bortnikov said a number of terrorist leaders were killed in special operations in the North Caucasus region in September.
He added that the terrorist leaders, including the "Amir of Daghestan," Ilgar Malachiyev, had been killed in Daghestan's Khasavyurt and Buinaksk Districts, Ingushetia's Malgobek District, and Chechnya's Vedeno district.
The FSB chief said major terrorist attacks had been stopped in the southern Russian resorts of Sochi and Anapa this summer.
"In July-August this year, an attempt by the terrorist Umarov, and an emissary of al-Qaeda, Moganned, to stage terrorist attacks in the resort cities of Sochi and Anapa using powerful explosives was prevented," he said.
The chief Russian antiterrorist official warned that there was a real possibility of terrorist acts being carried out in Russian regions bordering on South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
"The National Antiterrorism Committee has received evidence that there is a threat of terrorist acts in Russian areas bordering on South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he said.
Bortnikov also said over 30 members of the banned extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir had been brought to justice since the year start.
