The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has stated that they have dismantled a Hizb ut-Tahrir* cell coordinated by Ukraine in Crimea.
“As a result of coordinated actions by FSB officers in the cities of Dzhankoy and Yalta, a conspiratorial cell of a terrorist organization consisting of six Russian citizens has been neutralized,” the FSB said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the FSB, while coordinating the work of the terrorist organization’s operatives from Ukraine, the detainees carried out "purposeful work to spread terrorist ideology in Russia," and also recruited local Muslims into their ranks.
The FSB also said that propaganda materials pertaining to Hizb ut-Tahrir, communications equipment, as well as electronic media banned in Russia were found at the detainees’ homes and then confiscated.
Hizb ut-Tahrir aims to eliminate non-Muslim governments and establish Islamic rule across the globe through the creation of a "worldwide Islamic caliphate."
The FSB’s statement comes after the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on Tuesday that an ammunition depot near Dzhankoy “was damaged” as a result of a sabotage attack. "No one was seriously injured. The necessary measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of the sabotage," the MoD stressed.
Russia launched its ongoing special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine on February 24, following requests from the Donbass republics to protect them from Kiev’s attacks.
*a terrorist group banned in Russia and a spate of other countries