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Russia prevented 24 terrorist attacks in 2017 — Prosecutor General

The number of terrorism-related crimes reduced by 16%, according to Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The number of terrorism-related crimes in Russia in 2017 reduced by 16% and 24 terrorist attacks were prevented, Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika said on Thursday.

"The elimination of terrorist groups in Syria has caused a decline in the number of Russian citizens trying to join international terrorists and also those returning from the zone of hostilities. Alongside preventive measures this made it possible to push down the number of terrorism-related crimes by 16%. Twenty four terrorist attacks were prevented," Chaika told the Prosecutor-General’s Office board meeting.

He pointed out that in cooperation with the National Antiterrorist Committee the PGO stepped up the level of coordination in the struggle against terrorist crimes.

Considerable efforts were exerted to protect crowded public areas and vulnerable infrastructures. A total of 85,000 violations of the law were exposed and tight control established over the measures taken in response.

"I’m giving instructions once again to carry out a fundamental review in order to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements and take a package of anti-sabotage measures at all facilities involved in the FIFA World Cup finals. It is extremely important to maintain cooperation with the law enforcement agencies to maintain the security of polling stations and voters on the presidential election day and also the legality, transparency and observance of democratic election procedures," Chaika said.

Extremism-related crimes

Russia’s law enforcement agencies deterred as many as 1,500 extremism-related crimes in 2017, according to Chaika said.

"Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors deterred 1,500 extremism-related crimes, most of which concerned calls for violating the territorial integrity of our country, as well as public order and security, spread on the Internet," Chaika said. "As many as 972 people involved in such crimes were established," he added.

The Russian prosecutor general pointed out that law enforcement agencies needed to continue improving their coordination taking into account court and expert practices.