Russia says it neutralized ISIS cell plotting attack on Moscow synagogue

MOSCOW, March 7 (Reuters) – Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it prevented an attack on a synagogue in Moscow that was plotted by an Islamic State cell, Russian state news agencies reported.

FSB said that the members of the organization had been planning “to commit a terrorist act against one of the Jewish religious institutions in Moscow”, the RIA news agency quoted the report as saying.

The attackers opened fire during the attempted arrest and were “neutralized by return fire”, the FSB said.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had shot dead a Belarusian man who had been planning “an act of terrorism” on behalf of Ukraine in the northern Russian region of Karelia, the RIA state news agency reported.

RIA cited the FSB as saying that the man had intended to blow up an administrative building in the city of Olonets, some 155 miles (250 km) from the Finnish border.

“During the arrest, the criminal opened fire from a firearm at special services officers and was neutralised during the clash,” RIA cited the FSB as saying.

RIA published video footage showing several FSB agents entering a dilapidated, unlit building in a remote area, shouting “come out” and then firing shots.

The video then showed a man who appeared to be dead lying on the ground with a handgun next to his body.

The FSB said the IED had been made using a plastic explosive manufactured in Britain and had a U.S.-made detonator.

Citing unnamed sources, Russian media reported the man’s name as Nikolai Alekseev, a 49-year-old activist from Belarus who had participated in opposition protests there in 2020.