Russian investigators said Wednesday they had held three people for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on a church in Ingushetia, a small Muslim-majority republic in the Caucasus region.
The three Russian nationals were preparing to attack a church in the city of Sunzha, the regional branch of the investigative committee in Ingushetia said on Telegram.
Investigators have opened a criminal case against the three for “participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation” and “preparation to commit a terrorist act by prior conspiracy”.
“During the investigation and related searches, it was established that the defendants… were planning to commit sabotage and terrorist acts in the region,” they said.
Those arrested are members of the Islamic State (IS) group, according to a source familiar with the case quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency.
Russia regularly announces that it has foiled plans for attacks by presumed Islamist cells. IS has repeatedly pledged to target Russia over its support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
In March, 145 people were killed in an attack on a Moscow concert hall — the most deadly terror attack in Russia for two decades.
A Central Asian branch of IS claimed responsibility for the attack and four suspected gunmen, now in pre-trial detention, are citizens of Tajikistan.
Last week, inmates killed at least three Russian prison guards in a prison siege, according to officials, with the assailants having apparent connections to IS.
Russian special forces stormed the facility in Russia’s southern Volgograd region and shot dead all four attackers after an hours-long stand-off.
It was the second such case of IS-affiliated prisoners taking staff hostage since June.
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