Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
On Sunday two groups of gunmen burned down a synagogue and killed at least 19 people, most of them police, in twin attacks in Dagestan in southern Russia. Since then Russian propagandists have tried pinning the violence on Ukraine and its allies, but even usually loyal Kremlin stooges don't seem to be buying it. Dmitry Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister, warned against letting "this pink mist" cloud Moscow's judgement. The truth is majority-Muslim Dagestan has long been an incubator of violence and separatism, which unlike Ukraine pose threats to Jewish minorities and Russian territorial integrity respectively. At the same time it's worth noting Dagestan isn't far – about a day's drive – from Rostov, the Russian army's main staging post for its Ukrainian operations. One thing Putin doesn't want is a two-front war.
