Russia: ISIS Cell Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Russian security services . (File Photo: Reuters)
Russian security services . (File Photo: Reuters)
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Russia: ISIS Cell Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Russian security services . (File Photo: Reuters)
Russian security services . (File Photo: Reuters)

Moscow's military court sentenced members of an ISIS cell to prison for plotting terrorist attacks in Russian cities.

The defendants have set up an ISIS cell in Yaroslavl province, TASS news agency reported citing the Federal Security Service's office in the province.

The terrorists contacted ISIS members through the Telegram messaging application, which is banned in the Russian Federation, and planned to carry out terrorist attacks in one of the Russian regions, but they were unable to carry out their criminal plan when they were arrested last year.

After examining the case file, the Moscow Military Court sentenced the members of Yaroslavl terrorist cell to prison with terms ranging from 9 to 15 years.

The Federal Service also announced it arrested members of an ISIS cell collecting donations to fund the group's activities and revealed that they had raised about $156,000 for Syrian militants.

The agency issued a statement reporting that ISIS representatives gave instructions to the cell members to establish a financial system that funds the activities of the international terrorist organization.

The agency arrested two members of this criminal cell who transferred money to militants in Syria via payment systems and cards.

Security services searched the residence of the defendants and uncovered means of communication and payment of checks as well as other evidence to prove their involvement, according to the statement.

On several occasions, the Russian security services the arrest of criminals accused of collecting funds claiming they were for “donations” and transferred them to finance the activity of the organization in Syria.

During its latest operation, the security said it had thwarted the transfer of over $90,000 to the terrorist organization, which a group had assembled in nine Russian entities, claiming they were “charitable donations.”



Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
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Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.