A day after new explosions on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia, the authorities there report the smashing of a suspected Islamist cell. Six people belonging to the banned group Hizb ut-Tahrir have been arrested, Russian Crimean governor Sergey Aksyonov told the Telegram news service on Wednesday. The Russian secret service FSB succeeded in striking the Islamists. According to Aksyonov, the activities of the group were coordinated from the territory of Ukraine. The government in Kyiv, which wants to regain control of the Black Sea peninsula annexed in 2014, initially made no statement.
A statement by the FSB did not say whether those arrested were linked to the recent explosions at Russian military bases in Crimea. However, in addition to the city of Yalta, Dschankoj was also mentioned as a place where the Islamist cell is said to have been excavated. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a military depot near Dschankoj had been damaged by an act of sabotage. (Reuters)
