All news

Security official points to threat of Russian regions' infiltration by Ukraine radicals

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said there's a threat of infiltrations in Russia's Bryansk, Belgorod, Voronezh and Kursk regions
Radicals march in Kiev (archive) Maxim Nikitin/TASS
Radicals march in Kiev (archive)
© Maxim Nikitin/TASS

VORONEZH, April 21. /TASS/. Four Russian regions are faced with the threat of infiltrations by nationalist radicals from Ukraine, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said at a conference devoted to measures for enhancing national security on Tuesday.

"In the territories of the Bryansk, Belgorod, Voronezh and Kursk regions there is a threat of illegal infiltrations by Ukrainian nationalists and armed groups," he said.

By and large the processes in the socio-political sphere in the Central Federal District have been steady, but the operative situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border remained no easy, Patrushev said. He recalled the detention of 25 Ukrainian citizens who had been plotting terrorist attacks in seven Russian regions.

"The border guard service, the border security agency Rosgranitsa and the authorities of individual constituent territories of Russia required coordinated work to improve border infrastructures and reinforce the Russian-Ukrainian border," Patrushev said.

He reviewed the migration situation following the influx of refugees from Ukraine. Last year the Central Federal District accommodated 3,282,000 migrants from Ukraine, including 62,000 children. Russian citizenship was requested by 13,000 and more than 10,000 became Russian citizens. Patrushev said that some Ukrainians continued to receive social benefits even after getting jobs in Russia. He urged strict observance of Russian legislation and precision in such matters and the placement and accommodation of refugees.

Also, Patrushev said that the number of terrorist and extremist crimes in the Central Federal District in 2014 had gone up by more than 20% last year. Spreading extremist information in the Internet was the most typical offence. He urged faster counter-measures to upset such attempts.