For two decades, hundreds of Russian citizens have become victims of terrorism rooted in the turbulent North Caucasus region of Russia. This area has also been a major source of fighters for different radical Islamic groups in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and beyond.
Several developments contributed to the radicalization of the North Caucasus region and the Republic of Chechnya in particular. Chechens are one of the largest ethnic groups of the North Caucasus, a group that has not stopped its struggle for independence since Imperial Russian forces established control over the region in the 19th century. Accused of collaborating with the Germans during WWII, the entire Chechen population was forcefully deported from the North Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Siberia in 1944. Tens of thousands of children, women, and men died during that terrible criminal act committed by the Soviet government, led by Josef Stalin. Chechens were not allowed to come back to their homeland until 1957.
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