The Russian military operation in Syria "does not increase or decrease the degree of terrorist attacks" on the territory of our country, the speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko said.
"As long as there is Islamic State, there is a terrorist threat to any country, including Russia," she said.
The speaker added that the law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation are working efficiently to pre-empt possible attacks.
"We know what international terrorism is, our law enforcement agencies have very extensive experience of combating international terrorism, and in recent years we have reduced the number of terrorist acts. Our law enforcement agencies, our security agencies are working very effectively on the prevention of any terrorist threats," RIA Novosti cited Matviyenko as saying.
2nd Rank State Councillor, an expert of the Russian Security Council Scientific Council, Stanislav Ivanov, told Vestnik Kavkaza that since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Syria, the threat of terrorist attacks in Russia has grown. "The level of danger, of course, has grown, it's obvious. Our government is taking safety measures, because it is aware that this evil is spreading across the planet, and if one strikes it in one place, it will hit back in another. We should not forget that about 2000 Russian citizens are fighting in the ranks of Islamic State, some of them may return to avenge," the expert stressed.
Ivanov doesn't expect that attacks will take place in North Caucasus as in previous times. "I think that the terrorists will set the goal of attacks in crowded places – a subway, an airport. But I think that our law enforcement agencies take this factor into account, increasing security measures," he said.
Stanislav Ivanov pointed out that the threat is not only Islamic State, but also other groups. In particular, the An-Nusra Front, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, the Caucasus Emirate. Why is the ideology of this group so attractive to tens of thousands of Europeans, Russians, immigrants from the CIS countries and the United States? This cancer needs attention, both ideological and political, diplomatic and financial," the expert noted.
The president of the International Association of Veterans of the Alfa Anti-terror Unit, Sergey Goncharov, agreed that the threat has increased. "After the Russian Air Force bombed Islamic State, the reaction of the militants became sharply negative. They have already said that they will fight Russia, so it should be taken very seriously. The threat is real, and it is necessary to prepare all possible forces and the means of our security services and the army," the expert noted.
At the same time, in his opinion, the Russian security forces are ready. "When we interfere in the situation in Syria, our intelligence agencies must have been instructed to be on the alert and not allow militants to cross the Russian border to conduct terrorist attacks. The Russian government clearly calculated the response and the possibility of IS to answer with militants who could be dispatched to Russia. Therefore, I think that at the moment we are fully prepared," Sergey Goncharov said.
