IS Militants 'Plotting Moscow Attack' Arrested

Seven suspected Islamic State militants, who were allegedly planning terrorist attacks in Moscow and St Petersburg, have been arrested, according to Russia's security services.

Those detained were Russian nationals and citizens of Central Asian states, the FSB said.

Sky's Russia correspondent, John Sparks, said the group were arrested in Yekaterinburg.

"The police say that they have also found a lab for manufacturing explosives and the group were being led by an Islamic State fighter who had arrived from Turkey.

"I don't think this comes a surprise to people here in Russia as it is a prime target for terrorism because of its bombing campaign in Syria now entering the fifth month.

"Also, Islamic State claimed to have brought down that Metrojet airliner over Egypt in November, taking the lives of more than 200 people.

"But we have to cast a critical eye over arrests like this until we get more details as these arrests do play into what the Russian government says."

It is also claimed members of the group were planning attacks in the Sverdlovsk region in the Urals and wanted to travel to Syria to fight with IS.

The arrests come as Russian State TV announced that Chechen forces loyal to the Kremlin are on the ground in Syria gathering military intelligence deep inside IS-controlled territory, and this information is being used to identify bombing targets.

Chechen intelligence agents have also infiltrated the ranks of the militant group, according to Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, declined to confirm the presence of Chechen forces in Syria.

Russian forces fought two wars against Chechen insurgents, but the region has since been given a large measure of autonomy within Russia and been rebuilt.

There are believed to be hundreds of Chechens fighting with IS.