Massacre in Moscow: Putin is sitting on a powder keg of his own making 

On March 23, four gunmen burst into the Crocus Town Hall Theater on the outskirts of Moscow and shot and killed concertgoers. at least 137 people There are many more injured.The attacker had weapons such as automatic rifle and set fire to some fire escapes, cut off an escape route. white house press secretary John Kirby, who watched the video of the massacre shortly after, said: “It’s just horrifying and painful to watch.”

Previously, on March 5, the U.S. issued a warning We communicated the possibility of a terrorist attack through the Moscow embassy. Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored the warning, calling it a dangerous move. “They are trying to scare and intimidate our community.”

ISIS-K alleged liability For attacks via your Telegram account. ISIS-K is an offshoot of the Islamic State trying to establish An Islamic caliphate spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. ISIS has not forgotten that many of its fighters have been killed by Afghans. Russian troops in Syria.More recently, in 2017, an ISIS suicide bomber Killed 15 Russian citizens Inside a subway car in St. Petersburg.

Four Tajik citizens were arrested. Tajikistan is a landlocked, impoverished Muslim country. dependent on russia Because of that income.Tajik people look like they’re wearing the same clothes This is what the assailant seen at the theater was wearing in an earlier photo released by ISIS. One looks like this disconnected by a Russian soldier who is reported to be a member of a neo-Nazi militia.

The assailant was captured in the forest Near the border with Belarus —Not attempting to enter Ukraine President Putin claims.of white renault car He was also seen leaving the theater by car.One of the men claimed to have carried out the attack in collapsed Russia “For the money.” He claimed they were promised 500,000 rubles, or about $5,400. Of course, there are problems with “confession” made under coercion or torture.

There are many Tajik people Was fooled It was enlisted by the Russian army and used as cannon fodder in the Ukrainian war. Central Asian immigration to Russia be forcibly conscripted.and President Putin cunningly and ironically It cost Russian troops in Dagestan, Siberia and Tatarstan, not Moscow’s power base.

Dagestan recruits are being killed at a disproportionate rate in Ukraine. But the potential for opposition in Dagestan and other parts of the Caucasus is not just a problem for those killed in Ukraine.a protest was held It has been brewed in Dagestan for a long time. Only signs of protest have been brutally suppressed. The same applies to the other republics of the North Caucasus: Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Ingushetia and Chechnya.

President Putin has been at war with Muslim Chechens for decades. From 1999 to 2009 Over 60,000 Combatants and non-combatants were killed in Chechnya. In retaliation, the Chechens carried out terrorist attacks. Russian language school in 2004As a result, 330 people died, most of them children.

There is Approximately 20 million Muslims in Russia – about 14 percent of the total population.economist I created a chart This shows that for quite some time President Putin has relied on conscripts from the country’s poor and remote parts of the country, which are predominantly Muslim. Molfar, open source information gathering group, even going so far as to call this a form of ethnic cleansing. Many of these people are susceptible to: radical salafi teachings ISIS.

After years of brutality, collusion, and oppression against Muslims, President Putin is now sitting on a self-made powder keg.

Patrick Drennan is a New Zealand-based journalist with degrees in American history and economics.