Moscow: Over 1000 Russians joined clashes against Syrian regime in 2015, 135 died

Head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said Monday more than 1,000 Russian nationals left for Syria in 2015 to take part in the armed conflict, 135 of them died, Sputnik reported.

Russia should adopt new legal measures to counter terrorism recruitment via the Internet, Bastrykin said.

Daesh is known for its successful online propaganda and social media recruitment, which primarily target young people from around the world, he added.

"We need to broaden the range of criminal and legal measures to stop illegal actions of terrorist organizations related to recruitment on the Internet. With that in mind, to consider the decriminalization of the possession of such materials, their collection or uploading from the computer," Bastrykin wrote in the article for Russia's Kommersant-Vlast magazine.

He added that modern technologies allow the law enforcement to present evidence to the court of the connection between the accused and the relevant electronic communication, such as communication via social media.

A total of 469 criminal proceedings have already been initiated against those who joined fighting in Syria, Bastrykin said. 

The number of terrorism-related offenses reported in Russia has increased by 36.3 percent in 2015 in comparison with the previous year, while the number of extremist crimes grew by almost 30 percent, he added.

"A total of 1,329 extremist crimes were registered, which is by 28.5% more than in 2014 (1,034 crimes). The growth in the number of such crimes was noted in 56 constituent entities of the Russian Federation."

The number of terrorism-related crimes committed on the territory of the Russian Federation saw a 36.3-percent increase last year, according to the official.

"A total of 1,538 terrorism-related crimes were recorded (there were 1,128 crimes in 2014)."

According to the Russian official, the majority, or over 75 percent of these crimes, were committed in the North Caucasian Federal District.

Source: MENA