Aron, Leon. "The Coming of the Russian Jihad: Part I". War on the Rocks, 23 September 2016.

Aron, Leon. "The Coming of the Russian Jihad: Part I". War on the Rocks, 23 September 2016.

• An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Russian-speaking jihadists have joined ISIS thus far, making Russian the second-most common language used in ISIS after Arabic. Only around 2,400 of those fighters came from Russia, with other from the former Soviet bloc.
• The continued presence of Russian in jihadist propaganda and organization in the former USSR demonstrates the importance of Russian-language media in distributing jihadist and extremist ideology. Most Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, and Tajiks have a very limited understanding of Russian, making its dominant position among foreign fighters from those countries indicative of the Russian bias of networks that recruited them.
• Russian-language forces certainly have a major presence in Syria, with Russian graffiti being present in battlegrounds. There is even a 'Russian quarter' of Ar-Raqqa, with its own grocery stores and childcare services.
• Almost all foreign fighters from Central Asia are radicalized while working abroad in Russia, especially large cities like Moscow. In a hostile and unfamiliar environment, many Central Asians turn towards religious institutions for a sense of community. They may end up in the flock of unregistered and radical preachers, and become radicalized. 
• Between 80% and 90% of all foreign fighters for ISIS from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic have been radicalized and recruited while working in Russia. All 300 Uzbek fighters in Syria were formerly migrant workers.
• Despite governmental claims to the contrary, including the promotion of Russian Orthodox Christianity, there is a widespread Salafi movement in Russia, along with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 persons suspected of being sympathetic to ISIS.
• These sympathizers include those 'traditional' terrorist groups in the North Caucasus, but also include large numbers of converts. Recent converts to Islam are more susceptible to radicalization because they are eager to prove themselves to the rest of the community; recruits for ISIS are increasingly drawn from this group.
• Russian prisons have also been a breeding ground for Islamic radicalism, an especially significant danger because of Russia's large prison population. Often radical Islamic groups in prison will provide released prisoners with employment or a place to stay, later taken advantage of the situation to radicalize the former prisoners.
• The biggest potential danger from radical Islam in Russia comes from the possible radicalization of Tatar and Bashkir Muslims. They have historically been a well-integrated, patriotic, and moderate group, but since the late 1990s there has been a growth of radical Salafism in the region as more devout young Russians seek religious instruction at unregistered mosques, potential run by radical foreign preachers.
• A number of jihadist groups have been discovered in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan since the mid-2000s, receiving aid from Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups based in northern Pakistan.