RUSSIAN TERRORISM ̶ A REAL DANGER TO EUROPEAN SECURITY

Abstract

Today, amid the imperial dream, in a context where Russia is in the midst of a territorial war (the one in Ukraine) carried out with hybrid means, coupled with a recent history of Russian terrorist attacks of several types, the question of an imminent danger to the security of the democratic European region may be raised. Thus, the analysis starts from the hypothesis that Europe is facing a new terrorist danger promoted by Russia, developed against the background of actions to destabilise the democratic order through hybrid warfare, with great risk to regional security. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to identify Russia’s terrorist potential at present. Its subsumed objectives are to analyse the three growing dangers that build Russia’s terrorist potential. The first threat is the turbulent history of terrorism in this country. The second danger relates to the existence of a military group that has carried out several terrorist actions outside Russian territory, the Wagner group. The third danger is the activation of Islamist terrorism in Ukraine, by enlisting in the Russian army and training radicalized fighters from Muslim countries under Russian rule. The main research method is documentation. Studies, press articles and statistics on the subject were analysed, on the basis of which conclusions were drawn.