"Russia faces terrorism which it has created". This republic is under the smallest control of Moscow

How many years did you spend studying in Dagestan?

Dr. Iwona Kaliszewska: I ran them from 2004 to 2021. I tried to spend a period or 2 a year there. I dealt with local force of the state and alleged terrorism. force from the Russian Federation state apparatus was brutal and bloody.

And terrorism?

I have noticed how easily, at least in certain environments, we are deconstructing concepts specified as “nation”, “sex” or “state”, and how we mythologie the concept of “terrorism”.You can see it after 9/11, you can see it present — during ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Russia benefits from terrorism.

The Russian Federation faces attacks that pose a challenge to the government in the Kremlin. Let us callback the massacre in the Crocus City Hal performance hall in Moscow. 22 March 2024. The muslim State declared war on Putin. Terrorists killed 145 people, 551 wounded. The second in terms of the number of victims of the Russian bombing last year occurred in Dagestan. On 23 June in Derbent, Dagestan, 2 perpetrators shot down the church and the synagogue, which was subsequently set on fire. In the capital of Machachkale region, about 125 km from Derbent, 2 perpetrators entered the church and set fire to the icon. Then the bombers began shooting, after leaving the temple besides to passing police cars. At the same time, another attackers attacked a police station close Machachkała. A fewer hours later, a police officer was injured in an attack on a police car in the close village of Sergokala. As a consequence of a series of attacks, 17 police officers, 5 attackers and 5 residents were killed and 46 people were injured. According to the FSB, Dagestan's Moscow bombings were linked. We truly don't know what happened, but the fact is that there are attacks in Russia and we can witness more.

Magijat Gamzaeva/Kommersant/Sipa USA / newspix.pl

Attack on the Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent, 24 June 2024.

Russia is facing the terrorism that it created. The massacres of the population during the Second Chechnya War, the brutal suppression of national liberation efforts in the region, and the usage of force to suppress all social unrest, the treatment of the people of the Caucasus as second-class citizens — is simply a base for anti-state action, including terrorism.

What function does Islam play in this?

W Dagestan has been dealing with a long past of assassinations, about since the early 2000s. Their top increase was in 2009 and 2012. The attacks were mainly directed at state representatives, the FSB. Civilians, if they died, it's usually random.

In the Caucasus, for years, we have observed a spiral of force that drove itself. The residents experienced persecution and kidnapping from the state, and then took revenge on its representatives, killing them. Let us besides remember that Some terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation were organised by the FSB.

The frequency of specified events has decreased somewhat since 2014. Russia's attention then moved from the North Caucasus to Ukraine.

So possibly June bombings aren't unusual?

Like the 1 in June 2024 erstwhile civilians died, there were not many. This was so unusual that it was very uncommon for another confessions to be targeted. There are fewer Jews in Dagestan, as are Christians.

Anyway, the attack on the church or synagogue is not typical of an armed underground in that part of Russia. It did not item its participation in these events.

‘W Dagestan are a multitude of youth who do not recognise Russian power”

The muslim State of Chorasan, who took work for the Moscow terrorist attack in March 2024, praised the attacks in Dagestan, saying that they were carried out by "brothers from the Caucasus who showed that they were inactive strong". However, no terrorist group confessed to the June attack. Local events are most likely besides active in his case. The perpetrators included relatives of the head of the Sergokali region, Magomeda Omarov, including his boy Osman Omarov, who died in a clash with police officers. The motives of the bombers are not entirely known. The Russian authorities accuse them of being connected to terrorist groups, but have not established a relation with any circumstantial group.

Many reasons could have been involved. There is possible for unrest and anti-state action in society. In Dagestan, there are various events that do not always reflect specified an echo in the media.

For example, another loud event was the landing at the airport under the capital of Dagestan Machachkała aircraft from Tel Aviv.

This was even earlier, in October 2023. The crowd then sought Israel’s citizens. Over 20 people were injured as a consequence of clashes with police, according to local authorities.

After that, most of the detainees were released very quickly, as relatives, families, gathered under the police stations. There was a hazard of another riot.

To let the perpetrators of force go free?

The same groups of people protested against mobilization in Ukraine in September 2022 — this means that the possible for rebellion exists. True, any men, having abolished their mobilization obligation, went out to fight on their own accord, but their motivation was primarily financial. Protests against mobilization frightened local and national authorities, who brought peculiar services to Dagestan to counter further demonstrations.

The possible for an outbreak of unrest is not due to any abstract radicalization of youths. Various people – believers and non-believers – protested against mobilization. Care must be taken not to bring everything up to Islam and not to jump to conclusions. It is not that the Dagestan Muslims abruptly appear against Christians or against Jews. And in the case of the plane, we may have been facing the provocation of the Russian authorities.

Let us remember that most of Dagestan's inhabitants lived under conditions where state force was a regular occurrence. The authorities continued to carry out “special operations” against various militant groups — real and imaginary. There was tension in the republic, which I experienced erstwhile I visited this place many times.

This does not mean that the people of Dagestan want war. They saw the brutal war in Chechnya, so they carefully express their anti-state sentiments.

Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images

Refugees flee the Russian attack on Chechnya, 1995.

Mentally, however, they separate from the non-caucasian part of the federation. Leaving the North Caucasus, they say that they are going to Russia — as if Dagestan belonged to it.

The possible for rebellion is further reinforced by the fact that people from the Caucasus are treated in Russia as second-class citizens.

The Russian language functions very much Offensive, racist word “the lico of Caucasian nationalism” (in a literal translation: “the face of Caucasian nationality. ”) In “Russia” people from the Caucasus were and are more frequently controlled by safety services, face various types of discrimination, e.g. they are denied housing, they are not promoted at work.

Salafists, called waverings — the word lost spiritual meaning and became an invector — are portrayed as organizers of riots. But a negative attitude towards the Russian authorities has many people in Dagestan, including those who are Sufi fraternity sympathizers or are not spiritual at all.

What about civilian liberties? Is the anger of the people of the republic expanding due to repression?

Paradoxically, freedom in Dagestan is greater than in another parts of the country. People on Facebook or Instagram compose straight what they don't like, while in Russia they hide their heads in the sand. It depends a small on the local temperament, the way you are. The national authorities most likely know that they are incapable to completely restrict the freedom of these people, as they do in another parts of the federation.

So this is different from Chechnya.

W Dagestan is almost a 100 different cultural groups. They usage their own languages, frequently completely different. In 2 valleys not far from each other, people can live as different languages as, say, Polish and Portuguese or Polish and Turkish.

This situation is different from that in Chechnya, where The Russians put Kadyrov in charge.. There is no 1 in Dagestan who would be able to take control of all clans and influence groups. Behind Kadyrov, erstwhile he was in power, there was a large clan with a crucial impact on the full Chechnya population — now 1 and a half million people — which is much smaller than Dagestan — over 3 million.

The Russian head of Dagestan, a republic whose society is specified a complex cultural mix, will have no respect as a ‘non-his’. In turn Awar or Dargian will be seen as a typical of this peculiar group or even individual clans.

Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images / Getty Images

Dagestan residents in conventional outfits, photograph taken between 1905 and 1913.

Therefore, the authorities have no another means, another than the usage of force. But people who work in strength structures besides belong to circumstantial clans and do not want to exposure themselves to locals.

W Dagestan inactive operates the ritual of bloody revenge. For example, erstwhile individual tortured a associate of a clan, local clan ways of administering justice began to be involved. The perpetrators of these settlements are not found by the service, all of whom fear, and the Russians fear.

The Republic so has its own decision-making and independent action area. People don't go to prison for comments on Facebook.

So power fears public reaction. It's different from Central Russia, where Putin can do anything to people. Dagestan residents can just take the streets.

Yes, the power is afraid of 2 things. The first of these is already mentioned the possible of rebellion in society, as evidenced by, for example, the incidental with the aircraft in Machachkale. Clan ties are crucial in this context. In central Russia, society is tomized. erstwhile the servants arrest a household member, they will not intercede for him or their neighbors. And in Dagestan, her clan will search the person, although it depends on whether he is strong and how far they scope his influence.

The second crucial issue is the popular decolonization narratives. Young people are much more curious in the 19th century, the past of the fight against the Russian invader, the figure of Imam Shamil, who was a political, military and spiritual leader of the North Caucasian opposition against Tsarist Russia.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images / Getty Images

Leader of the Caucasian Imama Shamil around 1840.

There has always been a level of interest among young people in history, but it has never been so emotional. specified sentiments were more frequently seen in older generations. fewer youths, say in 2010, were curious in the Caucasian war during which the Russian Empire conquered the North Caucasus from 1817 to 1865. Now it's changing.

“The authorities will lose their authority”

Do the Dagestan elite share a negative attitude toward Russia?

Authorities must show loyalty to the Kremlin. Moscow gives money, in the republic there is comparative peace, you can make your business.

What do you mean?

In order to rebel in Dagestan, many young men would gotta lose their jobs and their financial capital. In another words, there would should be an economical crisis. The possible for start-up is most closely related to specified a scenario.

Dagestan receives large grants from Moscow budget. If he abruptly stops getting these drugs, the local authorities will lose their authority. erstwhile there's no more money to be separated, public service will cease to be prestigious, and officials will lose their listen. It is simply a model of financial and corruption dependency, different from the democratic states we know.

“This Russian state is simply a terrorist”

What are the conditions for specified a deep crisis in Russia?

If oil prices had fallen dramatically and remained at a low level for a long time, this could have led to major problems for the Kremlin. Nevertheless, I am not optimistic, and I do not think that Russia will shortly fall apart.

Let me stress 1 more very crucial thing: in Dagestan we are talking about the fight for freedom, independence. Not all attack on local authorities should be referred to as terrorism. Although I'm not saying that terrorists didn't do the bombings in June.

Please elaborate.

What's the difference between guerrillas and terrorists? Partisan, erstwhile you build a state, you cease to be a terrorist. For many Dagestan residents this Russian state is simply a terrorist. How many people died at the hands of the Russian authorities, and how many killed at the hands of terrorists or guerrillas? These are incomparable numbers. Like in Gaza.

Islam is of course very crucial due to the fact that it gives space to unite in a republic, in which there are many different cultural groups and languages, He unites, which is why Russian power fears him much more than cultural separatistism. In Dagestan, cultural separatist movements cannot happen on a large scale due to the fact that this republic is besides diverse.

The power can so turn a blind eye to the fact that, for example, the Awars, the largest cultural group, about 27.6% of the inhabitants of the republic, issue their secessionist pamphlets. It is known that they themselves will not be able to do anything threatening to Russia. Moreover, the Kremlin can even support specified local cultural megalomanes due to the fact that they counter unification.

Not all Islamist is anti-Russian.

The spiritual Board of Dagestan Muslims, or the alleged authoritative spiritual “power”, are subordinate to the state power and must bow to it, for example, to repeat nonsense about the rightness of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

At the same time, this Management Board has put large work into spreading cognition of Islam. From year to year, as I observed erstwhile I was studying there, the cognition of the people of the republic grew. religion began to unite people, to supply a basis for their identity and way of life. It is simply a force the Russian authorities are very afraid of. I have no uncertainty that muslim slogans would be of large importance in the event of a riot.

When we talk about interior riots in Russia, we direct our interest towards Chechnya and Ramzan Kadyrov – of course and there it will not be peaceful if money from Moscow stops flowing. In Chechnya, however, it is hard to get street demonstrations or guerrilla actions against representatives of the state – they are possible in Dagestan, as a republic under the smallest control of Moscow.

If anything should happen in Russia, it's there.