The Kremlin has made a concerted effort to implicate Ukraine, despite the absence of evidence linking Kyiv to the attack. Meanwhile, ISKP poses a clear threat to Russia.
Due to linguistic, religious, and cultural commonalities, members of the Islamic State and al-Qaida from Central Asia can often bypass security filters in the wider Turkic world.
Central Asian Islamists lack the capability to translate rhetoric into operational attacks, but they are capitalizing on the resumption of conflict in the Middle East to enhance recruitment and financing efforts.