Russian Police Detain Suspect in 1999 FSB Blast

RIA Novosti

17:28 18/01/2012 MOSCOW, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow police have detained a 29-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of involvement in a bombing that damaged the former headquarters building of the KGB in Moscow in 1999, the Interior Ministry's Criminal Investigation Department said on Wednesday.

The suspect was detained during a special operation at an underground taxi station, where investigators seized a large cache of weapons. “It has been established that the man was a member of the group that organized the explosion in front of the FSB building in 1999,” the statement said, referring to the KGB's main successor organization, the Federal Security Service (FSB).

The blast wounded a FSB officer and caused minor damage to the historic building, which dominates Lubyanka square in central Moscow.

The three - Olga Nevskaya, Nadezhda Raks and Larisa Romanova - were arrested in 2000 on suspicion of involvement in this bombing in 1999 and a bombing that destroyed the monument to Tsar Nicolas II in Podolsk, Moscow region, in 1998. All three were convicted in May 2003 on terrorism and explosives charges and received prison terms.

During a search of taxi fleets, police found a small workshop used for the illegal manufacture of arms and ammunition. The police confiscated many weapons and accessories, as well as fuses and 10 kilograms of components for manufacturing explosives.

According to investigators, the suspect is the owner of this shop.