MOSCOW, December 20 - RAPSI. A group of activists from Russia’s Voronezh Region were implicated as witnesses to charges arising from allegations that leaders of last year’s large-scale opposition movement were planning to wage a coup with the assistance of foreign funds in the aftermath of a search of their apartments, Investigative Committee official spokesperson Vladimir Markin told journalists.

Electronic data storage devices, leaflets and anti-government literature were confiscated during the searches, Markin said.

"In addition, documents were confiscated from the apartment of Boris Suprenok (who is a member of the Voronezh Region's Democratic Center) which showed that in 2011 and 2012 he received grants from companies registered in the United States for a total of 469,000 rubles ($15,426)," he said.

According to the documents, these funds were intended for the protection of citizens living in apartment buildings in Voronezh. Oppositionist Gennady Pankov was found to have a small bag of what is thought to be marijuana. It has been sent for analysis.

"The activists were taken to Investigative Committee's Voronezh Region department to be questioned as witnesses," Markin said.

RIA Novosti has been unable to obtain comments from the oppositionists whose apartments were searched.

This operation was linked to the high profile investigation of an alleged coup-plot in Russia. Three opposition activists, Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, Leonid Razvozzhayev, and Konstantin Lebedev have been accused of plotting to overthrow President Vladimir Putin with help from abroad. All three have denied the accusations.

A criminal case was initiated over coup allegations after the higly controversial "Anatomy of Protest-2" documentary was broadcasted on the NTV network.