An ammunition depot on the Crimean peninsula was shaken by detonations on Tuesday. Moscow speaks of an "act of sabotage". Hours later, the Russian secret service announced the arrest of six people. They are said to belong to a banned Islamist group.
A day after the explosions on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia, Moscow announced the arrest of six men. All those arrested belonged to the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Russia, the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB said.
A direct connection to the detonations on the peninsula, which is part of Ukraine under international law, was not explicitly mentioned. However, some of the arrests are said to have taken place in the town of Dschankoy, not far from which an ammunition depot had exploded the day before. Moscow spoke of an "act of sabotage" on Tuesday.
In view of the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for almost six months, Kyiv expressed satisfaction with the incident, but took no responsibility. It was the second explosion in Crimea in about a week.
The FSB did not announce who exactly the men arrested are. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, however, Ukrainian Crimean Tatars have been arrested and convicted several times on charges of Hizb ut Tahrir membership. Large parts of the Muslim minority, which was exposed to massive state repression during the Soviet era, clearly reject the current Russian rulers.
Meanwhile, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, reported that train services had resumed on the section between Dzhankoy and Vladislavovka that was affected by the explosions. "The trains run according to the timetable," wrote the 49-year-old on Telegram. Residents of the region whose property was destroyed or damaged should be paid up to 100,000 rubles, the equivalent of around 1,600 euros.
