Analysts doubt militants' involvement in attacks on law enforcers in Uchkeken

The two attacks committed in Uchkeken since early December have little in common, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 25, law enforcers reported an attack on law enforcers in the village of Uchkeken, Malokarachai District of Karachay-Cherkessia. The law enforcers approached the driver of a car parked on the road shoulder aiming to check his documents. The driver stabbed one of the policemen, and the passenger fired a hunting rifle at an employee of the "Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard).

Judging by the weapons used by the attackers on law enforcers in Uchkeken on February 25 – a knife and a hunting rifle – we can conclude that any seriously armed grouping or members of the terrorist underground is out of question, Umar Konchev, the head of the "Abaza" public organization, believes.

He has also seen no links of the February 25 incident with the self-detonation at the FSB building in Uchkeken committed in December 2020. "Most likely, these are different cases, not interrelated in any way," Mr Konchev has noted.

The existence of any terrorist underground in Karachay-Cherkessia is also denied by Akhmat Ebzeev, a political analyst and Doctor of Political Sciences.

"I haven't heard about any underground members or groupings in our republic. According to my information, the incident in Uchkeken has a domestic basis. As they say, there was a long-standing domestic conflict," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 2, 2021 at 01:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.