A suspected terrorist who allegedly planned to attack a Moscow “Jewish institution” and the local metro network was killed in a shootout with Russian security forces, the Kremlin confirmed on monday.
The suspect "intended to detonate homemade explosive devices in a religious Jewish institution... and at one of the Moscow metro stations," according to a spokesperson for the Federal Security Service (FSB).
The man, who was identified as a Muslim Russian citizen born in Central Asia, "offered armed resistance to Russian FSB officers when detained, and was eventually neutralized by return fire," the spokesperson added.
The suspect had also sworn allegiance to an unnamed terror group and made plans to travel to Afghanistan to join the ranks of the organisation after he carried out the attacks in Moscow, according to the FSB statement.
As part of his preparations for the attack, the suspect was said to have conducted surveillance and acquired bomb-making materials. During a raid on the suspect's home, the FSB said officers seized firearms and means to produce improvised explosive devices.
The news of the thwarted assault comes a year after the FSB thwarted an Islamic State attack on a synagogue in Moscow.
The terror cell, based in Kaluga, 93 miles southwest of the capital, planned to attack worshippers with firearms, the agency said. According to the FSB, the terrorists were members of the Afghan branch of ISIS.
Also in March 2024, an ISIS plot targeting Moscow's Crocus City Hall music venue killed 145 people and wounded 551 others in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern Russian history.
