Terrorism in RussiaRussia fears increasing domestic radicalization
In an increasing trend, the suspected mastermind behind the recent Russian airport bombing is an ethnic Russian who converted to radical Islam; terrorists are increasingly recruiting more ethnic Russian Muslim converts to their cause; several recent prominent figures in Islamic terrorist groups have been ethnic Russian converts; the latest suspect, Vitaly Razdobudko, is believed to also be behind a failed attack planned for New Year’s Eve; authorities have been searching for Razdobudko since he went missing last October
Vitaly Razdobudko, Russia's own homegrown radical // Source: telegraph.co.uk
In a deadly new trend, the suspected mastermind behind the recent Russian airport bombing is an ethnic Russian who converted to radical Islam.
Authorities believe that thirty-two year old Vitaly Razdobudko may have been behind the airport bombing as well as a failed attack on New Year’s Eve in central Moscow.
Some Russian officials believe that terrorists are recruiting more and more people like Razdobudko who are ethnically Russian, but have converted to Islam. According to Andrei Kuznetsov, a commentator on Russia’s Lenta news portal,“[Razdobudko] is not the first Slav-Islamist terrorist. These are people who converted to Islam in the chaotic 1990s when it became clear to people living far from the capital that the future was not bright. They preferred to embrace radical Islam rather than rot in an alcoholic delirium or a heroin-induced stupor.”
Razdobudko was born in Pyatigorsk, 800 miles south of Moscow, and attended a local technical university. At some point after graduating, he began associating with a radical local imam who had connections to Islamic extremists.
The imam, an ethnic Russian convert who has been accused of kidnap and was found to possess bomb-making manuals, encouraged Razdobudko to practice radical Islam
The police first noticed Razdobudko after a powerful car bomb injured thirty people near his home in Pyatigorsk.
Razdobudko is believed to be working with a northern Caucasus terrorist group called the Nogai Jamaat and may have trained in al Qaeda camps located in the mountainous region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Some experts claim that tens of thousands of ethnic Russians have converted to Islam and that it is the fastest growing religion in Russia with fears that Russia could become a majority Muslim state by 2050.
In a BBC interview, Russian demographer Viktor Perevedentsev brushed aside the idea that Russia would become a majority Muslim nation, stating that politicians are merely using recent the rise of Muslim birth rates in developing areas to generate fear.
Roman Silantyev, the executive secretary of the Interreligious Council of Russia, is in agreement. He believes the current estimates of Muslim converts are largely false.
“Less than 3,000 ethnic Russian have converted to Islam for the last 15 years,” says Silantyev.
Based on his research, during that same time period more than two million ethnic Muslims converted to Orthodox Christianity.
Silantyev is also quick to point out that after every major terrorist attack conducted by Islamic extremists in Russia, hundreds if not thousands of Muslims converted to Christianity.
After the Beslan hostage crisis in North Ossetia, where extremists took more than 1,100 people hostage, the numbers of people practicing Islam in North Ossetia decreased by 30 percent, while Beslan saw as many as half of its Muslim population convert.
The hostage crisis ended after a bloody gun battle with Russian forces left 380 dead, including 186 children.
Surveys conducted by Russia’s Public Opinion Research Center showed that only 6 percent of respondents identified themselves as Muslims.
Currently, Muslim minorities only make up one seventh of Russia’s total population.
Regardless of the exact number and growth rate of Islamic converts, this trend of recruiting more ethnically Russian terrorists has proven to be a deadly new threat to Russia.
According to Kuznetsov converts to Islam are often more devoted fanatical than non-converted Muslims.
“They make the most hardened revolutionaries and terrorists,” he said.
Alexander Tikhomirov, an ethnic Russian who converted to Islam, hasbecome a prominent face of Islamic terrorism.
Tikhomirov masterminded last year’s train bombings in which two women killed forty people in a deadly attack in Moscow. He is also believed to have recruited and trained dozens of other suicide bombers.
Tikhomirov was killed last March in a bloody gun battle with security forces in southern Russia.
Media savvy, Tikhomirov, used the internet to become widely popular and attracted many young Muslims. Even in his death, his writings and videos are distributed across the web and outside mosques.
Another prominent Islamic terrorist, Pavel Kosolapov, is also an ethnic Russian. Kosolapov is believed to have been involved in two deadly train bombings.
