Security officials in Russia's second largest city say they have detained two alleged members of a banned Islamic organization.
Federal Security Service officials in St. Petersburg said on April 2 that the two Russian citizens, whose names were not disclosed, are suspected of leading a cell of the group Hizb ut-Tahrir group in the city.
The two face charges of organizing a terrorist group and participation in a terrorist organization’s activities.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a London-based Sunni political organization that seeks to unite all Muslim countries in an Islamic caliphate.
Hizb ut-Tahrir says it is peaceful, but Russia's Supreme Court banned it in 2003, branding it a terrorist organization.
The organization has also been banned in former Soviet republics in Central Asia.