Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and Interior Ministry have prevented a series of terrorist attacks planned by religious extremists in Astrakhan in south Russia on May 9, the FSB and the Interior Ministry said in a joint statement on Sunday.
As a result of planned operational and search measures, the FSB's and the Interior Ministry's divisions for the Astrakhan Region have cut short the activity of religious extremists who planned subversion and terrorist acts on the day of the celebration of Victory Day and attacks on local police," the statement said, RIA Novosti reported.
On Saturday evening, the FSB and police detained a local resident who tried to detonate a bomb upon his arrest. The man was killed by the police. A grenade and a radio station were found on the body of the killed militant, the statement said.
The FSB and police also arrested other militants and seized a large amount of weapons, explosives and their components, instruments for subversion activity and extremist literature from them, the statement said.
The terrorist act in the Astrakhan Region has been prevented a month after Moscow marked the first anniversary of twin suicide bomb attacks in the city's metro and less than three months after a suicide bomb attack at Domodedovo international airport outside the capital.
The combined attacks left 77 people dead and scores wounded and prompted police to tighten security at public transport hubs across the city.
Both incidents were blamed on militants in Russia's North Caucasus, where federal security forces have been fighting an Islamist insurgency for the past decade.