New reports are surfacing about another influx of North Caucasian fighters arriving in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014. In particular, Chechens fighting on the side of the pro-Russia separatists have received substantial media attention. In 2015, however, the Moscow-backed separatist leadership in eastern Ukraine said that all North Caucasians had left their territory. Nonetheless, Lifenews, a Russian news agency with ties to the country’s security services, recently reported that Muslims from the North Caucasus remain in the Donbas region and that the Muslim contingent inside the separatist forces is becoming more ethnically diverse. Lifenews claimed that up to 10,000 …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation