Russia's Federal Security Service has completed a probe into a suspected terror plot, concluding that six men had planned to detonate an explosive at last's year Victory Day festivities in the Moscow region, Kommersant newspaper reported Wednesday.
According to investigators, six construction workers from Russia's restive republic of Dagestan — identified as Azim Ismailov, Samed Nurmagomedov, Vagid and Yusuf Guseykhanov, and Ildar and Asret Rizakhanov, — had planned to set off a bomb on the central square of Odintsovo, a suburb west of Moscow, during last year's annual May 9 celebrations.
The attack was allegedly ordered by Gasan Abdullaev, a local leader of the so-called Caucasus Emirate, a terrorist organization that strives to establish an independent Islamic emirate in Russia's North Caucasian republics. Authorities suspect Abdullaev of having plotted a series of terror attacks in the Moscow region, Kommersant reported.
Police raided the suspects' apartment two days prior to their planned attack, discovering homemade explosives, a grenade, extremist literature and the map and schedule of Victory Day celebrations taking place in Odintsovo, Kommersant reported.
The defendants' lawyers maintain that the evidence presented by investigators does not incriminate their clients.
Under Russian law, individuals found guilty of plotting a terror attack can face up to 12 years in prison.
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