The Russian state security service says it has dismantled an "international criminal group" suspected of forging documents for people wanting to fight with the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and militants coming to Russia.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on February 18 that 14 suspected members of the group had been detained in a "multi-stage operation" in the Moscow region.
The group is suspected of making documents for citizens of Russia and other former Soviet countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States who travelled to Syria to take part in combat actions, the FSB said in a statement.
It added that the members of the group also made fake documents for illegal migrants and militants sent to Russia by the IS group to carry out “terrorist and extremism-related crimes."
Russian authorities estimate that some 3,000 Russian citizens have joined IS in Syria.
