The trial of eleven people allegedly involved in a Saint Petersburg metro bombing that killed 15 and injured dozens more began in Russia's second city Monday.
"The military court of the Moskovskiy district is opening its examination of the criminal affair of the metro attack committed in April, 2017," the court said in a statement.The bombing was claimed by a group linked to Al-Qaeda which said it was a message to countries engaged in war with Muslims, a reference to Russia's military campaign in Syria.
Authorities attributed the attack to 22-year-old Akbarjon Djalilov, thought to be a Russian national born in Kyrgyzstan, who died in the metro blast.
His 11 alleged accomplices will appear before the military court.
The bombing is not the only attack to hit the imperial capital in recent years.
In December 2017, a bomb went off in a Saint Petersburg supermarket, wounding 18 people in an attack labelled by President Vladimir Putin as an "act of terror".
Suspect Dmitry Lukyanenko, who was found to be suffering from mental illness, has pled guilty and is awaiting a verdict.
Also in 2017, Russia's FSB security service said it had arrested members of the Islamic State group who had planned to blow up the Kazan Cathedral, one of Saint Petersburg's most famous landmarks, among other crowded places.
Russia sentenced several people, including an 18- and 19-year old, for involvement in the botched attack.
