[ad_1]
Middle East Eye, citing Ukrainian Crimean Tatars and volunteers from the former Soviet Union, indicated that Muslim militias would be an “effective” fighting force if Russia invaded Ukraine.
In its report, the site stated that one of the fighters – who identified himself with the nom de guerre “Ninja” – said that he had been fighting in Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists since 2015, and was on the front lines until late this summer as a volunteer with a powerful unit called the Sector. Right Sector.
The site reported that groups such as “Right Sector” attracted fighters from all over the former Soviet Union, many of whom came from recent conflicts along its periphery in places such as Chechnya, Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The site pointed out that these volunteer militias are seen as a threat to stability, and officials in Kiev have tried to rein them in, because they fear that foreign fighters risk tarnishing Ukraine’s image as it attempts to present itself as a responsible Western country that may one day join NATO (NATO). NATO) and the European Union, so most volunteer units are integrated into the regular army and national guard.
Although Ukraine is an Orthodox Christian country, it is home to the Crimean Tatars, a Turkic-Muslim ethnic group numbering about 280,000, and making up about 12% of the population in their ancestral home of Crimea.
The site pointed out that Muslim fighters such as Ninja – despite their eagerness to fight the Russians – raised additional concern for the Ukrainian authorities.
“There is one thing you must understand, we are not only fighters, we are also Muslims, and everyone is concerned about everything that is broadcast by the media of ISIS or al-Qaeda,” Ninja said, referring to Kiev’s concern that the fighters will be portrayed as extremists.
The site added that Ukraine, although it is an Orthodox Christian country, is home to the Crimean Tatars, a Turkish-Muslim ethnic group numbering about 280,000, and making up about 12% of the population in their ancestral homeland, the Crimea.
The Tatars were in Moscow’s crossfire. They were deported from Crimea by Stalin in 1944, and only began to return from the labor camps in Central Asia in the 1980s. These bitter memories and recent tensions made the Tatars staunch opponents of Moscow.
The site concluded that there is a common thread that unites the Tatars with their compatriots, which is the desire to fight. According to a poll conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, 58 percent of Ukrainians said they would take the path of armed resistance if Russia invaded the country.
[ad_2]