A man suspected of recruiting for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has been arrested by law enforcement officers in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.
The 32-year-old resident of Bashkortostan’s Dyurtyulinsky District, who is “suspected of cooperating with Islamic State,” was detained in early May, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement to Russian media.
“It was established that the man shared the radical views of IS, involved Bashkortostan residents into operations of the international terrorist organization and facilitated their departure to Syria,” the statement read.
A criminal case on assisting a terrorist organization has been launched against the suspect, who has been in custody since his arrest.
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Bashkortostan, a mainly Muslim republic with a population of over 4 million, is situated on the Volga River in southwest Russia.
The activities of Islamic State are outlawed in Russia, which has been assisting the Syrian government in its fight against IS and other terrorist groups with airstrikes and other means since September 2015.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told broadcaster Mir in April that around 10,000 people from countries of the former Soviet Union were fighting for Islamic State in Syria, with “less than a half of them being from Russia.”
