Russian authorities are mounting a sweeping security operation to combat the threat of terror attacks and hooligan violence during the World Cup.
Russian president Vladimir Putin will deploy hundreds of thousands of police officers and army personnel to the streets of cities across the country to ensure rigorous security is upheld.
Security experts believe Sunni militants, namely ISIS fighters returning to Russia from the Middle East, pose the biggest terror threat at the World Cup in June and July.
Professor Anthony Glees, a security and intelligence expert at The University of Buckingham, told Daily Star Online the threat of terrorism at the World Cup is “credible without doubt”.
Russia’s security service the FSB has arrested scores of suspected ISIS-linked terrorists in Kaliningrad, where Gareth Southgate’s team will play Belgium later this month.
ISIS propaganda circulating online has called on would-be jihadists to commit atrocities at the World Cup in revenge for Russia’s military bombing campaign against the terror group in Syria.
In one shocking poster crosshairs are superimposed on top of a picture of “disbeliever” Putin at a World Cup stadium in Russia alongside the message: “You will pay the price for killing Muslims.”
Prof Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said there are two plausible ways in which ISIS fanatics might launch an attack on fans in Russia.
One terrifying strategy, he suggested, would be for them to dress as football fans and merge in with crowds in busy areas in cites and near stadiums associated with the tournament.
He said: “One is by ISIS supporters travelling to Russia in the guise of legitimate fans.
“But clearly Russia will do all it can to ensure that no ISIS supporter disguised as football fan gets into Russia – this means even tighter border control.”
“Russia will also want to ensure it controls the actual access to the matches and will deploy all its resources to ensure ISIS or their agents get nowhere near the game.”
The second method involves ISIS using Chechens, an ethnic minority living primarily in Russia’s North Caucasus region, as proxies to attack Russia.
Since the fall over the Soviet Union in 1989, Chechen separatists have launched a campaign for independence, resulting in devastating wars and a rash of terror in Russia.
Prof Glees said: “We know that the Chechens are fighting the same fight as IS, and might agree to act for them or to facilitate an IS attack on the World Cup 2018.”
“For preventive purposes, Russia might well try to round up and intern Chechens inside Russia for June and July.
“If we detect they are doing this, it would be an indication they are taking the threat as seriously as they ought.”
Russian security services are on high alert for a potential attack on the tournament, either on stadiums or gatherings of fans.
Last year, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov underlined the threat facing Russia, warning that after “military defeat” in Syria and Iraq, terrorists are rebasing to former Soviet countries and seeking to penetrate Russia.
Some 20,000 citizens of states on Russia’s borders are suspected of involvement in terrorist or extremist religious organisations, he said.
"The terrorist tactics have been changing,” he said.
“The leaders of international terrorist organisations are encouraging their supporters to carry out the so-called ‘autonomous jihad’.”
Prof Glees said there are “countless examples” where “long wolf” terror attackers have slaughtered crowds of people gathering for events in recent years.
He added: “All they need to do is launch an attack – they know it will end with their deaths – to have the desired effect.
“That's one reason they are so dangerous. They are not deterred by the fact that will be no way out.”
