MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. A supporter of the international terrorist organization Islamic State (outlawed in Russia), who was detained in Norilsk, a city that lies north of the Arctic circle, plotted to blow up the pre-trial detention center in late April, according to video footage of his interrogation released by the Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on Wednesday.
According to the detainee, he made two bombs out of a metal pipe, a TNT grenade with gunpowder and a detonator, following instructions he had found on the Internet.
When asked what he was planning to do, the man answered, "To blow up the pre-trial detention center in order to set Muslim prisoners free," adding that he was going to carry out the attack "at about the end of April."
The detained man also said that a couple of months before he had converted to Islam, had chosen the religious name of Mansur and started watching videos by the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia). The he decided to swear allegiance to that terrorist group. In his Telegram community of eleven followers, he urged other Muslims to join the IS.
The FSB said that on March 22, a 25-year-old Russian was detained in Norilsk and that two high-capacity improvised explosive devices, a flag with IS symbols as well as a handwritten oath of allegiance to the so-called Amir of that terrorist group were seized at his home. The man posted public calls for acts of terror on the Telegram messaging app. A criminal case under Part 2 Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code (public calls to terrorist activities) was initiated. It will look into the suspect’s actions in preparing a terrorist attack and in illegally making explosive devices.