But it also led to soul searching of various kinds, particularly with regards to how Muslim migrants are treated in Russia, and the stark differences that exist between Russia’s well-integrated indigenous Muslim communities in regions such as Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and the North Caucasus, and its more recent — and frequently temporary — Muslim immigrants from Central Asia.
The Tajik IS
Once they were in police custody following their capture in western Russia’s Bryansk region the morning after the attack, the alleged Crocus City Hall terrorists claimed that they had been recruited via Telegram by an assistant preacher they knew only as Abdullo. This was widely understood to be Abdullo Buriev, a Russian citizen of Tajik origin who is believed to be linked with the Afghan IS cell involved in a terrorist attack on a Catholic Church in Istanbul on 28 January.
It was Islamic State — Khorasan Province, more commonly known as IS-K, that claimed responsibility for the Moscow concert hall attack. Led by Shahab al-Muhajir, a 29-year-old Afghan, it takes its name from Khorasan, “the land of the rising sun” in Persian, a vast historical region of Central Asia that included parts of modern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Unlike a number of other countries, Russia hasn’t yet formally recognised this iteration of IS as a terror organisation. However, the group holds a number of significant grievances against Russia.