Russian police shot and killed a man who was allegedly planning to detonate improvised explosive devices at a religious Jewish institution in the Moscow region and at a Moscow metro station.
The suspect, a native of a central Asian country and member of a terrorist organization, had conducted reconnaissance on the targets and purchased the materials to create IEDs, Russia’s FSB federal security service said Monday. It did not name the suspect, the country he came from or the terror group he allegedly belonged to.
Investigators said once the attack was completed, the man planned to travel to Afghanistan and join an international terrorist organization there.
The announcement came almost exactly a year after the FSB said it had killed Islamic State operatives who were planning a terrorist attack on a Moscow synagogue.
A video shared on social media early Monday showed a nighttime raid by anti-terror forces. After officers entered the suspect’s apartment, he resisted arrest, and police shot back and neutralized him, the FSB said.
Police found a pistol and bomb materials in the apartment, along with papers describing how to create an IED. The suspect’s phone showed correspondence with the terror organization, and the video shows black bands with a logo resembling that of Islamic State.
Breaking: Russian FSB thwarts Islamist terror attack on a Jewish religious institution & Moscow metro. The terror suspect, was planning IED explosions, he was eliminated by the security forces. #Moscow #Terrorism pic.twitter.com/4C4vqk92VW
— Abhishek Jha (@abhishekjha157) March 3, 2025
Rabbi Aaron Gurevich, a senior official with the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia in charge of liaising with law enforcement agencies, told the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti that the planned attack was aimed at a Moscow synagogue. He declined to identify the house of worship by name.
Russian chief rabbi Berel Lazar said in a statement that terrorists targeting the community were “becoming increasingly vile and brutal.”
“Only the diligent work of the special security forces can ensure maximum safety and protection for citizens,” he stated. “However, even though the criminals’ plans were thwarted, we recognize that they still achieve part of their goal by spreading fear and confusion.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, second left and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities Alexander Boroda, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, February 20, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Antisemitism in Russia has been rising since October 7, 2023, when the Hamas terror group launched its war against Israel. Weeks after the attack, a violent mob stormed a plane from Israel that landed in Russia’s southern Dagestan region seeking to hunt down any Jews who may have been on board, fueled by antisemitic rumors.
In June, two synagogues, two churches, and a police checkpoint were targeted by gunmen in Dagestan in an attack that killed over 15 police officers and several civilians.
A report issued in January by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called Russia the most antisemitic country in Europe, with 62 percent of people surveyed holding antisemitic views. The country has a population of around 20 million Muslims and 150,000 Jews.
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