Propaganda and Operations: The Rising Islamic State-Khurasan Threat to Russia

As March came to a close, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported arresting three individuals from a “Central Asian country” who were allegedly planning an explosive strike somewhere in the Stavropol region. The March 29 raid came a week after the attack on Crocus City Hall that left at least 143 people dead and only days after Russian authorities reported arresting 11 people, including the four suspected perpetrators, for their connections to the attack. 

A similar plot was also broken up in the weeks before the slaughter in Moscow. Images released by Russian state media showed two bodies at an apartment building after it was stormed by the FSB.