Russia's state security police say they have arrested seven Islamic State militants who were planning terrorist attacks in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and the Sverdlovsk region.
In a statement the Federal Security Service said the men were arrested in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and the insurgents had intended to depart for Syria once they had carried out their attacks.
An Interfax news agency report Monday said police had searched the men's homes and found "a laboratory producing improvised explosive devices, explosives, electric detonators, firearms, grenades, component parts for improvised explosive devices and extremist books."
The report said the leader of the group of men was an IS member who had come "from the territory of Turkey."
