Over the past five years, jihadists have carried out at least two dozen high-profile attacks in European countries. Recent attacks have once again proved that terrorism knows no borders. Are there any guarantees that its next destination will not be Ukraine? The situation was assessed by Mufti of the spiritual administration of Muslims of Ukraine said Ismagilov and director of the Center for Middle East Studies Igor Semyvolos.
This is reported in the story of Channel 5.
So far, the SBU has instituted more than a dozen criminal proceedings against individuals associated with the Islamic State.
Over the past three months, Ukrainian law enforcement officers have detained three foreign ISIS fighters who were on the international wanted list. Among them is one of the leaders of the terrorist group, who trained militants and organized attacks abroad while living in Kyiv. However, such cases are isolated. For ISIS, Ukraine is more of a transit zone than a final stop. Therefore, Ukrainians should not be afraid of outbreaks of radical Islamism, says Said Ismagilov.
"There are no radical cells in Ukraine. There are no people who support violence. We urge believers not to sympathize with radical ideas and moods and remind them that Islam categorically prohibits hatred and violence. Our Muslims are completely different – they are the indigenous population, which consider themselves Ukrainians. Our Muslims are not immigrants," the Mufti said.
"A much more real terrorist threat to Ukraine is not jihadists, but "we-are-brothers" Russia.
According to the Global Terrorism Database, 809 terrorist attacks were committed in Ukraine during the first 27 years of independence. Most of them occurred during the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in the East. Most of the attacks were carried out by terrorists of the puppet "DPR" and "LPR". And only 2% are accounted for by other separatist organizations and right-wing radicals.
"Russia is training saboteurs in camps in the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions or in Crimea, who commit terrorist acts on the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, we don't need to look for ISIS, we don't need to look for Islamic terrorists when we have our own, as they say, "homegrown" Russian terrorists," said Igor Semyvolos, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies.
In addition to them, Moscow perfectly manages to spread fake news. It is the Kremlin and pro-Russian media that actively spread fake stories that Ukraine is training militants for the "Islamic State" and even financing it. Outright lies are nothing more than part of the information war. Its goal is to make Ukraine a "failed state", quarrel with the West and sow panic among Ukrainians.
"In the Russian media, Ukraine, frankly speaking, is being demonized. If they want to take advantage of this tension between Muslim and European society, I am absolutely sure that it will be very easy for Russia to make some provocations, some clashes, and therefore it is necessary that preventive measures be taken by the state," Ismagilov added.