FSB chief Bortnikov: Terror funding often disguised as charitable donations

International terrorists create charities in order to obtain funding disguised as charitable donations, Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said.

“The problem of funding terrorist activity under the guise of humanitarian aid remains critical. International terrorist organizations actively create various charitable foundations through which the collection of funds is performed under the guise of donations. Meanwhile, donors are not aware of the true purpose of their charity,” he said at an international conference in the framework of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on Thursday.

According to the FSB chief, illegal trading in weapons and cultural goods, human trafficking, piracy, extortion, kidnapping and illegal migration remain among top sources of financing terrorism. Cryptocurrencies and digital wallets which provide terrorists with anonymity have also begun to be widely used among them.

Over the past year, there has also been a marked increase in the production of various types of drugs, especially synthetic ones, as well as in drug trafficking directly linked to members of international terrorist organizations.

Source: TASS