Alexander Ryumin/TASS
On May 21, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in coordination with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs cracked down an extremist group linked to the so-called Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.
According to the statement, the group was led by Erol Veliyev, a parliamentary assistant to a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and a former Chairman of Mejlis Mustafa Dzhemilev. Veliyev acted on orders from a wanted chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov.
The group, which includes former boxers Steshenko A. and Tretyakov A., was formed in Kharkov, Ukraine,
“The extremists planned to commit crimes based on political hatred with a goal to threaten the pro-Russian Crimean Tatars and stoke national tensions on the territory of the Republic of Crimea,” the FSB Center for Public Relations reported.
According to the FSB, in January the group set on fire the house of Crimea’s mufti Emirali Ablayev’s house with Molotov cocktails. The group members were promised to be paid $500 for each action in Crimea.
In April, one of the group’s members Oleksandr Steshenko was detained as he was entering Crimea to prepare “provocations”.
Criminal charges have been launched against Veliyev and Tretyakov. These members are put on the wanted list of Russia.
