Are Russia’s Failed Statelets in Eastern Ukraine Safe Havens for Terrorists? by Paul Goble
Are Russia’s Failed Statelets in Eastern Ukraine Safe Havens for Terrorists? by Paul Goble Sunday April 12 th , 2015 at 6:45 PM The InterpreterThe Interpreter 1 Share Staunton, April 10 – A great deal of attention has been given to Chechens, Buryats and other non-Russians going to the Donbass to fight for the pro-Moscow “peoples republics” there, a flow that Russian propagandists have played up as evidence that support for Vladimir Putin’s “Russian world” is broader than just among ethnic Russians. But much less attention has been paid to what may be a far more important and dangerous influx: the arrival of young fighters from Afghanistan and other Islamic countries, at least some of whom may be seeking as many of their cohort are in Syria, Yemen or Iraq to acquire military skills for Islamist jihad. The reason for that concern is obvious: The pro-Moscow territorial formations in eastern Ukraine set up as a result of Moscow’s intervention h