Dagestan massacre’s impact on Russia’s war in Ukraine: Political scientist’s insight
Political scientist and expert on Central and Eastern
Europe, Ivan Preobrazhensky, discussed the recent Dagestan massacre’s reasons
and whether it will draw Russian forces away from Ukrainian frontlines in an
interview with Radio NV on June 24.
- We see some kind of armed attack on Orthodox churches and synagogues in Makhachkala. Police officers, priests, and hostages were killed and wounded there. What is this? Is this a rebellion against whom, against what? Perhaps it is connected with dissatisfaction with the war, what is it about?
- It is definitely not directly related to dissatisfaction with the war, although it is indirectly related, of course, because the situation in Russian economy is deteriorating, and Dagestan is one of the poorest republics in Russia.
It is one of the poorest regions with huge unemployment. Social protest is taking the form of religious performances. These were obviously actions of Salafists, Islamist radicals. The children of the head of one of the districts of Dagestan take part in these clashes with the police, they are killed, his house is stormed, and he is arrested. And obviously, he did not cover them up.
These young people, who look at these greedy, thieving corrupt Russian officials, are increasingly convinced that Islamic radicals are right when they say that we need to cleanse the world of these parasites and build a Shariah where everything will be fair and just. They believe in it, they go to kill for it.
So far, their influence is not that great, as long as someone else do not provoke them. Dagestan is a very complicated region, with a constant struggle between different clans and peoples. There are 14 official written languages there, but in reality there are more than a hundred. The language of interethnic communication is Russian, because people often do not understand each other.
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