Russian law enforcement officials said Monday that they arrested two “religious figures” in the Tyumen region who are suspected of recruiting people for terrorist organizations based in Syria.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said its agents “disrupted an international terrorist organization’s resource channel” in cooperation with police and investigators.
The two arrested men recruited 19 people for “terrorist activities” in Syria from February 2015 to November 2022, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes.
The law enforcement agency added that the pair had also collected money to finance members of the Islamic State.
One of the arrested men allegedly posted a sermon online, with “psychological and linguistic expertise concluding [it] contained signs of justifying and promoting terrorist activity.”
The FSB said the men face charges of calling for and abetting terrorist activity.
A video accompanying the Investigative Committee statement showed several uniformed FSB agents raiding a house and escorting the men separately for interrogations.
Russia intervened in Syria’s 2015 civil war and helped President Bashar al-Assad defeat opposition forces and Islamic militants.
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