MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. More than 4,500 people have left Russia to fight for terrorists abroad, the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Aleksandr Bortnikov, has said.
"By now about 4,500 Russian citizens have been identified who have gone abroad to fight for terrorists," Bortnikov told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview.
"Work is under way to cut channels, through which members of international terrorist organizations active in zones of armed conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa and the Afghan-Pakistani zone enter Russia, and through which Russian citizens enter those regions," the security official said.
According to Bortnikov’s estimates, in the past two years, security services stopped more than 200 people, who tried to leave Russia with a purpose to join international terrorist groups.
"Since 2012, more than a thousand of people have been convicted for organizing illegal migration channels. The priority right now is to uncover "sleeper cells" of terrorist and extremist organizations, and to counter "lone-wolf terrorists," whose attacks occurred recently in many countries," he said.
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- FSB chief says terrorists adopting 'autonomous jihad' tactics
- Russia’s FSB prevents 18 terrorist attacks in 2017
- More than 60 terrorists eliminated in 2017 — Russian National Guard
- Russia’s Federal Security Service busts 50 terror cells in SCO member states