An international terrorist organization is attempting to incite religious hatred in the country, the agency has warned
Two separate plots targeting synagogues in southern Russia have been foiled, according to law enforcement. The attacks were allegedly being planned by a foreign-based extremist organization seeking to incite religious hatred.
In a statement on Monday, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said two citizens of a Central Asian country were building an improvised explosive device intended for use against a synagogue in Krasnoyarsk when they were taken into custody.
In a separate case, authorities arrested a man in Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Region, who allegedly planned to attack a synagogue with firebombs. The FSB said investigators found messages from a foreign instigator on the suspect’s phone.
The agency alleged that the plots were meant to provoke unrest similar to an anti-Semitic riot in Dagestan in October 2023, when a mob stormed Makhachkala International Airport after a Telegram channel falsely claimed a flight from Tel Aviv was carrying large numbers of “Jewish refugees.” More than 130 people were later charged in connection with the violence, and the first sentences were issued in August 2024.
The online channel that incited the riot was founded by Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian MP who fled to Kiev in 2014 after being charged with embezzlement. Ponomarev touts himself as the leader of a pro-Western resistance movement and has urged NATO members to conduct political assassinations in Russia in support of his cause.
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