Elena Patyaeva—a friend of Seda Suleymanova, who disappeared three years ago after being forcibly returned from St. Petersburg to Chechnya—was detained in Grozny. On August 23, Patyaeva stood by the monument to journalists who died for freedom of speech, holding a sign that read: "I demand an investigation into the murder of Seda Suleymanova." This was reported by the human rights project "Slovo Zashchite" (Word for the Defense).
One of two teenagers detained in Germany suspected of preparing a terrorist attack is a Russian citizen. This is a 16-year-old resident of Wittstock (Brandenburg) named Rasul M. This is reported by BILD in Russian.
The second person arrested is a 15-year-old teenager with Afghan roots, Edris D. from Burscheid (North Rhine-Westphalia).
Presumably, the detainees wanted to carry out a terrorist attack using improvised explosive devices or a small truck. The synagogue in Cologne and the Christmas market were mentioned as possible targets.
According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, one of the arrested “wrote in a chat about plans to commit a terrorist attack.”
“Eventually they agreed on a very specific plan to attack the Christmas market. It sounded very specific,” said the regional minister.
According to police, both minors consider themselves members of ISIS.