Suspect detained for plotting Yessentuki terror act confirms pledging allegiance to IS

MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. A native of a Central Asian country apprehended for plotting a terror attack at the Yessentuki bus station in southern Russia said in a video provided to TASS by the Federal Security Service (FSB) that he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) and acted on its order.

"I joined the Islamic State and pledged allegiance to the IS and planned to commit a terrorist act on its orders," the suspect said.

The video provided by the FSB shows the suspect making photos of particular places in the bus station’s building. It also shows his detention by FSB operatives.

The FSB press office reported earlier on Friday that the security agency that thwarted a terrorist attack at the Yessentuki bus terminal in southern Russia and apprehended a Central Asian native who plotted it.

"A terrorist attack plotted by a member of an international terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and a native of a Central Asian country has been thwarted in the Stavropol Region," the press office said in a statement.

"The terrorist pledged allegiance to the ringleader of the international terrorist organization and plotted an attack on transport infrastructure facilities in the city of Yessentuki with an improvised explosive…, reconnoitered the city’s bus station, studied the time of the mass gathering of people, selected a place for planting the self-made explosive, acquired components, chemical substances and striking elements required for making it and stored them in a cache equipped in advance in a rented garage," the press office said.

After the terror attack, the suspect planned to leave for Syria to join the ranks of the terrorist organization, it said.

The suspect was timely exposed and apprehended. FSB operatives seized components of the improvised explosive from the cache that he had prepared and found terrorist-related propaganda materials at the place of his residence, the press office said.

FSB investigators have opened a criminal probe under article 205 of Russia’s Criminal Code (‘A Terrorist Attack’), the press office said.