Russia Accuses Crimean Tatars of 'Extremist' Plot

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Russia's FSB security service on Monday accused Crimean Tatars, a Muslim group that opposes Moscow's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, of plotting and carrying out attacks with backing from Kiev.

The FSB said an alleged group of attackers was led by the parliamentary assistant of Mustafa Dzhemilev, the respected spiritual leader of the Crimean Tatar community who is also a member of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada parliament.

The allegations mark an intensification of Russian attacks on the community, with Moscow saying it suspects Crimean Tatar activists of creating, participating in and recruiting for an extremist group -- charges that carry jail terms of up to 10 years. 

The FSB said the group, led by Dzhemilev's assistant Erol Veliyev, acted on orders from Refat Chubarov, the head of the Crimean Tatars' banned assembly, the Mejlis, "with support from the SBU," referring to Ukraine's security service.

It said the group carried out an arson attack on the home of Crimea's chief mufti in January. Russian television showed FSB footage of two men apparently throwing Molotov cocktails at a building followed by an explosion.

Russia said it had detained one of the alleged members, Oleksandr Steshenko, in April as he entered Crimea to prepare "provocations."

Ukraine's foreign ministry at the time asked Russia to explain his detention and reveal his whereabouts.

Russian television has shown FSB footage of an unnamed man, apparently Steshenko, giving details to investigators.

Two other Crimean Tatars, including Dzhemilev's assistant Veliyev, have been declared wanted by Russia.

Dzhemilev was formally banned by Russia from entering Crimea for five years shortly after the annexation in 2014, which followed the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. 

Dzhemilev is currently in Toronto and was not immediately available for comment.

Crimean Tatars are a Muslim community indigenous to the Black Sea peninsula. Under Joseph Stalin's rule, they were sent into exile to Kazakhstan and only returned around the fall of the USSR.

Most Crimean Tatars opposed Moscow's annexation of the peninsula and subsequently Russian authorities have cracked down on the community, banning their assembly and television channel as well as detaining and jailing dozens of activists.

Crimean Tatar activists have taken part in road blocks and protests as well as damaging power lines from Ukraine to the peninsula.

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