Seven Islamic State members preparing terror acts in Moscow and St. Petersburg have been detained in the city of Ekaterinburg in the Urals Region, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The leader of the group came to Russia from Turkey.

After terror acts in Russia’s two largest cities, as well as the Sverdlovsk Region, where the city of Ekaterinburg is located, members of the terror group planned to flee to Syria where parts of territory are under control of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

The gunmen were planning to carry out "high-profile terrorist attacks using self-made explosive devices," the FSB said, as reported by Russian media.

The authorities also found IED components, electric detonators, hand grenades, handguns and extremist reading matter.

The extremists in the terror cell are citizens of Russia and some Central Asian countries.