Makhachkala, December 1, 2019. The Russian law enforcement officers have busted a 250-strong gang known as “Sharapovskiye” for committing numerous crimes and a major terrorist attack, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reports.

The gang has committed a series of murders of businessmen and law enforcement officers, kidnappings, extortion and robberies in Moscow and the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan between 2007 and 2015, the FSB statement runs.

The members of the group were involved in the preparation and implementation of a terrorist act in 1998 in Makhachkala, as a result of which several dozen people were killed and more than 100 were seriously injured. The gang included employees of the republican Interior Ministry and the lawyers.

The main organizers and perpetrators of the crimes have been arrested and a number of them have been sentenced to long terms in prison, while some members managed to escape and have been put on the wanted list.