MOSCOW, April 1./TASS/. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a probe to scrutinize the roles played by the United States and other Western countries in organizing terrorist attacks inside Russia, as requested by Russian parliamentarians, the committee’s press service told TASS.
A request from several members of the lower house State Duma asks to "investigate the organization, financing and carrying out of terrorist attacks by the US, Ukraine and other Western countries targeted at Russia," according to the text of the request. "The central office of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has launched a procedural inquiry," the press service said.
The law enforcement agency noted that, within the framework of the probe, the inquiry will thoroughly scrutinize the data submitted and make a procedural decision.
It was reported earlier that the Russian Prosecutor General's Office will study factual materials received from State Duma lawmakers concerning the organization and financing of a number of terrorist attacks inside Russia, as well as the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, perpetrated by persons and organizations based in the United States, Germany, France and Cyprus.
The evidence will be carefully studied, after which the issue of engaging mechanisms for international legal cooperation will be considered, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
The Duma members sent a statement to the prosecutor general's offices of five countries (Russia, Germany, Cyprus, the United States and France), as well as to the Russian Investigative Committee, calling for an immediate investigation into and prevention of the financing of acts of international terrorism. In the document’s appendix, the legislators provided direct evidence concerning the masterminds, organizers and perpetrators of these crimes, as well as those engaged in covering them up and financing them. They believe that the United States and its allies carry out terrorist attacks in Russia using the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) and Ukrainian intelligence services as proxies. They demanded that the political leadership of the United States and Ukraine, as well as the intelligence services of these countries, be held criminally liable for organizing, financing and carrying out terrorist operations against Russia and the entire contemporary world. Earlier, the Russian Investigative Committee said that it would consider the legislators’ request.