Increased Security Measures in Russia for 2018 World Cup

Victim of several attacks in recent months and a target of jihadists due to its presence in Syria, Russia is preparing for a highly reinforced security system, almost a state of emergency, in the face of threats weighing on the 2018 World Cup in the country.

Sixteen dead in a bomb attack on the metro in St. Petersburg in April, seven people stabbed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) in Siberia in August, not to mention the numerous ISIS "cells" that intelligence services regularly announce they have dismantled: recent precedents do not invite calm.

The World Cup (June 14-July 15) is already on the horizon as the major international sporting event for 2018, but "the threat of attacks in Russia is very real," warns Alexandre Goltz, an independent Russian expert specializing in security issues.

This threat, which Russia has been facing for more than 20 years and during the two Chechen wars, has further increased since the country's military commitment to support the Syrian regime in September 2015, making Russians one of the top targets of the Islamic State.

"The authorities say they have managed to destroy ISIS. But several thousand Russians have participated in the fighting and are now beginning to return to Russia," recalls Alexandre Goltz.

According to the secret services (FSB), around 2,900 Russian jihadists, mostly from the unstable Muslim republics of the Caucasus, have fought in Syria. In addition to them, there are several thousand fighters from Central Asian countries, who have significant communities in Russia.

Seven months before the football tournament, reinforced security measures are already visible and have been well accepted by the population in a country that has paid a high price in terms of terrorism victims.

In Moscow's metro, security gates have been installed at all stations and bags and backpacks are scanned. In St. Petersburg, the police began deploying explosive-sniffing dogs in the metro last week.

The most important sporting event on the planet alongside the Olympic Games is a target that requires caution. Every day, there are dozens of calls to commit attacks during the World Cup, which are published in ISIS propaganda outlets and by sympathizers of the organization on social networks. Many of them refer to football stars.

"These are media threats to attract attention," relativizes Pascal Boniface, director of the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) in Paris. In his view, the terrorist risk affects "any global sporting event that attracts cameras and the will of those who want to make an impact."

A few months before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, there were bomb attacks in Volgograd with 34 deaths, and "many attacks were feared" during the event, recalls the expert. However, the competition ultimately took place without incidents in that regard.

Alexandre Bortnikov, director of the FSB, revealed in early October that numerous terrorist plots were foiled before the Confederations Cup, which took place last June, also in Russia.

Since 2016, Russia has set up an international "working group" responsible for security issues during the World Cup, which, according to Alexandre Bortnikov, has been joined by security services from 32 countries despite diplomatic tensions between Russia and other Western countries.

Under the responsibility of the FSB, a "general staff for World Cup security control" has been established, according to the Russian press, to prevent the different services from "overstepping" boundaries, and a list of particularly monitored sensitive locations has been published.

Russian authorities prefer to be discreet about the World Cup security plan, but Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Sports, Vitali Mutko, has already announced that at least 30 billion rubles (445 million euros) will be invested in this matter.

In May, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "on enhanced security measures during the Confederations Cup and the World Cup", which was in force in June 2017 and will be effective again from May 25 to July 25, 2018.

Meanwhile, human rights organizations are concerned about this decree and its limitation of freedoms of demonstration and circulation.

"We have already seen the consequences," said Yulia Gorbunova from Human Rights Watch, stating that 33 people were arbitrarily detained during the Confederations Cup.