Starting from the Moscow theater hostage crisis in 2002 , Russia was faced with increased levels of Islamist terrorism . The FSB , being the main agency responsible for counter-terrorist operations , was in the front line in the fight against terror . During the Moscow theater siege and the Beslan school siege , FSB 's Spetsnaz units Alpha Group and Vympel played a key role in the hostage release operations . However , their performance was criticised due to the high number of hostage casualties . In 2006 , the FSB scored a major success in its counter-terrorist efforts when it successfully killed Shamil Basayev , the mastermind behind the Beslan tragedy and several other high-profile terrorist acts . According to the FSB , the operation was planned over six months and made possible due to the FSB 's increased activities in foreign countries that were supplying arms to the terrorists . Basayev was tracked via the surveillance of this arms trafficking . Basayev and other militants were preparing to carry out a terrorist attack in Ingushetia when FSB agents destroyed their convoy ; 12 militants were killed . During the last years of the Vladimir Putin 's second presidency ( 2006 – 2008 ) , terrorist attacks in Russia dwindled , falling from 257 in 2005 to 48 in 2007 . Military analyst Vitaly Shlykov praised the effectiveness of Russia 's security agencies , saying that the experience learned in Chechnya and Dagestan had been key to the success . In 2008 , the American Carnegie Endowment 's Foreign Policy magazine named Russia as " the worst place to be a terrorist " and highlighted especially Russia 's willingness to prioritize national security over civil rights . By 2010 , Russian forces , led by the FSB , had managed to eliminate out the top leadership of the Chechen insurgency , except for Dokka Umarov
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Federal Security Service