ST. PETERSBURG, December 30. /TASS/. A district court in St. Petersburg has sanctioned the arrest of one of the two Russian nationals, Georgy Chernyshev, who were detained on Sunday for plotting terror attacks during the New Year holidays, the press service of the St. Petersburg courts said on Monday.

The Dzerzhinsky district court’s session was held behind closed doors.

Chernyshev was charged with participation in terrorist activity (part 2, article 205.5 of the Russian Criminal Code). The man’s defense lawyers asked the court to place him under house arrest but the court rules to place him in custody till February 29, 2020.

Apart from that, the court plans to impose a pre-trial restraint on the other suspect.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier that two Russian nationals had been detained on December 27 on the basis of information shared by US partners. The two reportedly planned to commit terror attacks in St. Petersburg during the New Year holidays.