I ask my driver about the “bandits” who hide out in the mountains and attack the police. “The bandits are in Moscow,” he replies. “The boys in the woods are just regular guys. They don’t touch us. They’re against Russia.”
Ingushetia
Four Die in Shoot-Out as Russia Faces Jihadist Threat
“Moscow still hasn’t worked out a strategy on the North Caucasus and hasn’t even tried,” Alexei Malashenko said. “The Kremlin doesn’t want to recognize there’s a real Islamic opposition.”
