Russia sends anti-terror units to Dagestan Republic. Weapons and an explosive device were found when they were arrested.
The likely trigger for the operation is the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22, in which 144 people were killed and at least 551 others were injured. IS, which claimed responsibility for the terrorist act in the days after the attack, is active in the Islamic former Soviet republic. Despite the arrests and the apparently radical Islamist background to the crime, Russian officials continue to point out possible involvement between the West and Ukraine.