Russia logs record number of ‘terrorist attacks,’ largely due to inclusion of anti-war and military actions
Since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, official Russian statistics have shown a sharp rise in terrorist attacks within the country, according to a new report from the outlet Verstka. This year has already seen a record number of cases — seven percent higher than the previous peak in 2003. However, much of this increase appears linked to how Russian authorities define terrorism, with the total including various anti-war actions as well as operations carried out by the Ukrainian military.
Russian security forces registered 601 “terrorist attacks” in the first nine months of 2024, according to an Interior Ministry report highlighted by Verstka. This figure already exceeds Russia’s previous record, set in 2003, by seven percent — the year the ministry began tracking this data. At that time, authorities reported 561 terrorist attacks, after which the number steadily declined over five years and then stabilized for the next 13 years, remaining between eight and 50 cases annually.
The bitter truth is that events in Russia affect your life, too. Help Meduza continue to bring news from Russia to readers around the world by setting up a monthly donation.
The trend began reversing in 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the Interior Ministry documented 127 acts of terrorism. By 2023, that number had tripled to 410. In 2024, the count reached last year’s total in just over seven months, with 403 cases reported by the end of July.
The sharp rise in reported terrorism reflects the Russian authorities’ broad definition of the term. They categorize actions that could be perceived as anti-war protests — including arson attacks on military recruitment offices or even unsuccessful attempts at such attacks — as terrorism. Actions by Ukrainian military personnel are also frequently recorded as terrorism, further contributing to the increase in reported cases.