Khasavyurt, Dagestan's second city, is starting to get a reputation for civil resistance. CC-SA 4.0 Zastara / WikimediaCommons. Some rights reserved.In Khasavyurt, Dagestan, the first six months of 2016 have been marked by three high profile events — winter protests against attempts to close a mosque, the death of a newborn child in a local hospital and the mobilisation of small traders against the authorities’ confiscating contraband good.
At first glance, these events don’t seem to be connected. However, if we look at the wider context, not only do these events complement one another, but they also point to a number of significant trends. In particular, how the republic authorities, the driving force behind Moscow’s governance techniques, have become hostage to their own policies.
This city, famous throughout southern Russia for its markets, is now entering a new era. And its immediate future, in which the state will clearly play a larger role, is unlikely to be an improvement on its recent “bandit” past.
