Special service veterans treat reports on CTOs in Ingushetia as truthful

Law enforcers' reports about frequented counterterrorist operations (CTOs) in Ingushetia reflect the real situation, and the growth of militants' activeness has to do with the spread of the ideology of radicalism in Russia, experts have suggested.

Since the start of 2020, three CTOs have been held in Ingushetia; the last one – on May 30 in Sunzha, where two persons were killed in a shootout with law enforcers.

In Ingushetia and Dagestan, militants feel most at ease, said Sergey Goncharov, the president of the International Association of Veterans of the "Alpha" Antiterrorist Detachment.

Gennady Gudkov, a retired Russian FSB colonel, has treated the growth of radicalism potentials in Northern Caucasus as essential.

"This is caused, inter alia, by authorities' brutality: there are many arrests and torture there, which lead to exasperation," he has explained, adding that the growth of radical sentiments in the society can be associated with a general decline in living standards, economic and political problems in the country.

Over the past year, supporters of the "Islamic State" (IS or ISIL), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court, have increased interest in underground activities, mainly in Ingushetia, said Joanna Paraschuk, an analyst at the "IHS Janes" Centre from Great Britain. In her opinion, this is the reason for the increased law enforcers' activeness in the region.