“In [events] in the Caucasus, we see another instance of the Russian regime’s loss of control in various places, which come as a surprise to the regime itself,” Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and a former Russian diplomat, wrote in a post on Telegram.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea that Russia risks sliding into instability.
“Today’s Russia is different, society is consolidated, the sort of terrorist manifestations we saw in Dagestan are not supported by society, not in Russia nor in Dagestan,” Peskov told journalists on Monday.
While saying it was too early to draw conclusions on who was behind the Dagestani shootings, Peskov bought up a Sunday attack on Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia. Four people died and more than 150 people were injured there after fragments, likely from a U.S.-supplied missile, fell on beachgoers in the city of Sevastopol, Russian media reported.
“We understand perfectly who is behind it,” Peskov said, telling reporters to ask Europe and the United States why they were “killing Russian children.”
