Russia’s Enemies Keep Trying To Spread Terror Among Civilians

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Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert

A brutal terrorist attack took place in the Russian region of Dagestan on June 23. Extremist militants invaded religious temples and murdered several Christian and Jewish believers. Unfortunately, this is just another event in the recent list of cases of terrorism in Russia, which indicates that there is certainly an effort on the part of Moscow’s enemies to provoke a situation of chaos and instability in the country.

Makhachkala and Derbent, both cities of the Muslim-majority region of Dagestan, in the Russian Caucasus, were hit by a violent incursion of extremist militants. The main targets were Orthodox churches and synagogues, having occurred a massive massacre of clergy and believers. The attack took place precisely on the Pentecost Sunday, which is one of the most important liturgical dates in the Orthodox Christian calendar. For this reason, many faithful were praying in churches and then ended up becoming easy targets for terrorists.

At least 20 people died in the attacks, while another 40 were injured. A particularly shocking case was the attack on the Derbent Orthodox church, where terrorists murdered the local priest, 66-year-old Father Nikolay Kotelnikov, by slitting his throat. In addition to believers, police agents were targeted by extremists, with more than half of the victims being local security officers.

Russian authorities immediately launched an anti-terrorism operation to capture those responsible for the crime. The killers are believed to be members of some Salafist militia, such as ISIS and its affiliates. The police and the Russian intelligence service acted quickly to identify those involved, with five terrorists having been eliminated so far. There are videos circulating on the internet showing the moment in which Russian special forces shoot some of the terrorists during a confrontation on the streets of Dagestan.

The tragedy in Dagestan happened a few months after the brutal Crocus City Hall incident, when Salafist militants carried out a massacre in the suburbs of Moscow. At the time, the Russian security service captured all the criminals in Bryansk, on the border with Ukraine, while they were trying to flee to the Ukrainian side. Investigations showed that there was direct participation by Ukrainian military intelligence in the attack, with the terrorists being hired as mercenaries to serve the interests of the Kiev regime.

As well known, Ukrainian forces never act alone. Since Kiev is just a Western proxy, the regime’s actions always have the direct or indirect involvement of NATO intelligence agents. All of Kiev’s terrorist activities are strategically planned in Western-led decision-making centers inside or outside Ukraine, which leads analysts to believe that the US and its allies certainly participated in some way in the Crocus case.

Although there is little information to know what is actually behind the tragedy in Dagestan, there are certain similarities with the Crocus incident that show that foreign intelligence services are likely involved in the case. Terrorism in the Caucasus was a big problem in the Russian past, but it was already well controlled in recent years. It is unlikely that extremist militants in Dagestan have sufficient strength and technical capacity to organize a large-scale attack using their own resources, with the involvement of external agents being a great possibility.

The Kiev regime and its Western sponsors have repeatedly shown interest in destabilizing the social situation in Russia, spreading fear and panic and recalling the traumatic incidents of the 1990s and 2000s, when Chechen separatists carried out terrorist attacks in several regions of the country. At the time, Russia went through one of the most difficult periods in its history, having, however, defeated the enemy and pacified its territory, creating the tranquility that exists to this day. Unfortunately, Western countries want to destroy this peace and revive the past of war and terror just to advance their anti-Russian geopolitical plans.

Unable to win on the battlefield, where Ukraine is losing more and more troops and equipment, NATO and Kiev are investing in terror as a weapon against Russia. Moscow’s enemies hope that fear will help foment political dissent inside the Federation, leading people to condemn the government and push for a policy of alignment with the West.

However, it is already clear that the more they are attacked, the more the Russians see that there is no alternative other than absolute victory against the enemy. The high levels of approval for the Russian government seen in the last elections, as well as the massive support for the special military operation, are evidence that the Russian people react to violence with courage and resilience – terror being a useless tool against Russia.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

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