Information provided by the CIA helped Russian security services foil an attack on a St Petersburg cathedral, Russian media reports say.
The group was planning to blow up the Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg. Photo: 123RF
The attack was allegedly planned to take place on Saturday, officials say.
In a phone call, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Donald Trump for the CIA's intervention, the Kremlin was quoted as saying.
Mr Putin promised to alert US officials if it received any similar intelligence relating to the US, Interfax reported.
Russia's FSB security service said in a statement on Friday that it had detained seven members of a cell of Islamic State supporters and seized a significant amount of explosives, weapons and extremist literature.
The cell was planning to carry out a suicide attack at a religious institution and kill citizens on Saturday, the FSB statement said.
The group was preparing to blow up the Kazan Cathedral and other crowded places in Russia's second city, Interfax quoted the Kremlin as saying.
It added that Mr Putin had asked the US president to pass on his thanks to the CIA director and the operatives involved.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed that Mr Trump and his Russian counterpart had spoken on Sunday.
An explosion on St Petersburg's metro system in April, which killed at least 13 people, is thought to be linked to jihadists.
Returning militants from Syria pose a real threat to Russia, the head of the FSB was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Security services had already prevented 18 terrorist attacks in 2017, Alexander Bortnikov said in comments reported by Itar-Tass news agency.
- BBC
