Attacks by the Islamic State (IS) on Russian soil, such as the one that left more than a hundred people dead last Friday (22), are nothing new. The jihadist group has already claimed responsibility for terrorist acts in Russia since 2015, some without victims and others with several deaths, such as what occurred in the Urals in 2017, when the explosion of a residential building took the lives of 39 people.
According to figures compiled by the EFE Agency from databases such as that of the United States Department of State, IS claimed or was responsible for at least 15 attacks on Russian soil between 2015 and 2019, the last year in which there were an action by the group was recorded before the attack this Friday, in the Moscow region.
The attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall is the deadliest since then, but IS actions in Russia have already caused the deaths of police officers, the massacre of worshipers in a church, an explosion in a supermarket, shootings and the stabbing of passers-by.
2015
On December 19, the first attack claimed by IS was recorded on Russian soil. On that date, a man shot 11 tourists and killed one of them when they were visiting the city of Naryn-Kala, in Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan.
2016
On August 17, two men attacked a police officer with guns and axes at a traffic checkpoint in the Moscow suburb of Balashija and were shot down by officers. The attack was claimed by IS.
On October 23, two men shot at a police officer who was inspecting his car in Nizhny Novgorod, who fired back and killed both attackers. IS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was two “Islamic State soldiers”.
On December 17, two suspected IS militants stabbed a police officer in Grozny, Chechnya, and used his weapon and a stolen car to kill three police officers. Although ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the action, the US State Department says the suspects were recruited by an Islamic State commander in Syria and that videos were released in which they pledged allegiance to the group.
2017
On March 24, a group of suspected IS affiliates attacked the Russian National Guard post in Grozny, resulting in the deaths of six soldiers and six attackers. IS did not claim responsibility, but the US attributed the attack to the group.
On April 4, two Russian police officers were killed in a shootout in the city of Astrakhan, in the south of the country, in an action later claimed by IS.
August 19th also has a record of an attack claimed by IS. In the Siberian city of Surgut, a 19-year-old walked through the streets with a knife and injured seven people before being shot down by police. The action took place the day after similar attacks in Finland and Germany, where several people were also stabbed.
On December 27, an explosion in a supermarket belonging to the Perekriostok chain, in Saint Petersburg, injured around 20 people. The bomb did not cause serious damage to the building. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
2018
On February 8, a gunman fired indiscriminately outside a church in the city of Kizliar into a crowd celebrating Russia's Masletnisa, a holiday similar to Carnival. Five people die and five are injured. The attack was claimed on the same day by IS.
After that, in mid-May, IS claimed three attacks, one in Neftekamsk, one in Nizhny Novgorod and one in Dagestan. They claim to have attacked the police and a Sufi shrine, but there are no reports of deaths.
On December 31, an explosion in a residential building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, in the Urals, killed 39 people. The building was initially believed to have collapsed due to a gas explosion, but IS claimed responsibility, saying it had killed 39 Russian “crusaders”.
2019
On April 8, an explosion occurred in Kolomna, near Moscow, later claimed by IS. No casualties were reported.
On July 1, a police officer was killed with a knife at a checkpoint in the Chechen district of Achkhoy-Martonovsky. The police killed the attacker, and IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
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