ST. PETERSBURG, January 9 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) – The St. Petersburg City Court has extended detention for eight citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, who are charged with preparing terrorist attacks, until March 8, the court’s representative told RAPSI on Monday.

Names of the accused were not revealed.

According to investigators, on November 12, officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested two terrorist groups planning to organize series of explosions in Moscow and St. Petersburg out of sympathy for the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia.

The FSB’s Public Relations Center reported that eight alleged terrorists were arrested in a rented apartment in St. Petersburg with several Kalashnikov assault rifles and homemade bombs being found at the place. Three more persons were arrested in Moscow where they were working at a construction materials marketplace. Three homemade bombs were found at their apartment.

All of the detainees are citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Journalists report that alleged terrorists were going to leave Russia for Syria where they planned to escape investigators. The FSB’s Public Relations Center notes that detainees are giving confessional testimonies.