Russia says shot dead 'terrorist' cell planning railway attack

MOSCOW — Russian FSB agents shot dead members of an alleged "terrorist" cell from Central Asia that were planning to blow up a train station, the security service said Thursday.

The shootout comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of a massacre at a Moscow concert hall, which Russian authorities responded to by restricting the rights of migrants and targeting Central Asian workers with document checks, raids and expulsions.

The FSB said the group, part of a banned "international terrorist organisation", had been making bombs and planned to flee to the Middle East after carrying out the attack.

It published footage of camouflaged FSB officers shooting through the door of a log house and a grenade detonating, followed by images of several dead bodies, some of which were clutching rifles and had bullet holes through their clothes.

"The attackers, on the instructions of a handler of the terrorist organisation located abroad, intended to blow up the railway station building in Pskov," the FSB said in a statement.

Pskov is a city in western Russia, around 50 kilometres from the border with EU and NATO member Estonia.

"The terrorists put up armed resistance to the Russian FSB officers and as a result were neutralised by return fire," the FSB said.

It did not say which organisation the group were affiliated with or how many people were killed.

Its video also showed what the agency said was bomb making equipment, nails and explosive powder, found in the house.

Russian authorities regularly report suppressing alleged "terrorist" cells operating inside the country, including in armed raids.

The FSB said they were citizens of a Central Asian country.

Russia has hardened its migration policies for Central Asians and waged an intense campaign of raids, document checks and expulsions since the massacre at a music concert in Moscow last year.

Gunmen last March stormed the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow, shooting concert-goers before setting the venue on fire, killing 145 people.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and Russia arrested four suspected gunmen from Tajikistan.