In 2014, Russia illegally invaded Crimea and annexed it from Ukraine, and Kremlin-backed fighters seized territory in jap Ukraine. In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Heading off potential questions concerning the Kremlin’s safety failings, notably given the U.S. Embassy in Russia warned that Islamic militants had been planning to assault Moscow earlier this month, Putin instantly sought responsible Ukraine for final Friday’s bloodbath. However with no proof to again up his assertion that Kyiv was behind the assault, and with a department of the Islamic State jihadist group claiming duty and releasing footage of the taking pictures, Putin was lastly compelled to name-check ISIS on Monday.
But Putin, who has constructed his authoritarian regime on a strong-man picture, hinted that Russia’s cozy relationship with Hamas and stance on Israel’s conflict in Gaza meant the nation wouldn’t be an ISIS goal.
“Are radical and even terrorist Islamic organizations actually curious about hanging Russia, which immediately stands for a good resolution to the escalating Center East battle?” Putin requested throughout Monday’s videoconference — ignoring Islamic State’s long-standing beef along with his nation.
Putin propped up the regime of autocrat Bashar al-Assad towards the Islamic State in the course of the Syrian civil conflict; in September 2022, ISIS militants claimed duty for a lethal assault on the Russian Embassy in Kabul. A department of ISIS additionally operates within the Caucasus, together with in Chechnya, the place separatists have for years violently tried to see off Russia’s rule.
Kyiv, in the meantime, has vehemently denied any hyperlink to final week’s terror assault and accused Putin of utilizing it to justify additional aggression on Ukraine.