Militant Hideouts in the Russian Caucasus

Known as "the mountain of languages" because of its diversity, the Russian republic of Dagestan is home to both complex terrain and a multitude of ethnicities. Dagestan is located more than 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles) from Moscow in the easternmost part of the North Caucasus mountain range. Several Caucasus republics have experienced militancy in the past, but Dagestan is different from those areas in large part because the complex physical terrain of the region compounds its ethnic divisions, making it uniquely suited to militant activity.