International
The Islamic State, responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia since 2015
The attacks on Russian soil by the Islamic State (IS) are not something new. The jihadist group began to claim actions in Russia in 2015, some of them without victims and others with several deaths, such as the one that occurred in the Urals in 2017 when the explosion of a residential building left 39 dead.
According to the figures collected by EFE, both from its own information and from databases such as the United States Department of State, the IS has claimed or been responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia between 2015 and 2019, the last year in which a Daesh action was registered until this Friday in Moscow.
The one in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert hall is the deadliest counted since then, but IS actions in Russia have gone from the murder of police, the killing of faithful in a church, an explosion in a supermarket, shootings or a lone wolf stabbing pedestrians.
2015
December 19. In the first attack claimed by IS on Russian soil, a man shot 11 tourists and killed one of them while visiting the city of Naryn-Kala de Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan.
2016
-August -17. Two men attacked a policeman with weapons and axes at a traffic control post in the Moscow suburb of Balashija, and were killed by the agents. A policeman was seriously injured. The attack was claimed by the IS.
-October 23rd. Two men shoot a policeman who was inspecting his car in Nizhny Novgorod, who returned the fire and killed the two attackers. The IS claimed the attack stating that they were two “soldiers of the Islamic State.”
December -17th. Two alleged IS militants stabbed a policeman in Grozni, Chechnya, and used his weapon and a stolen car to kill three police officers. Although the IS did not claim the action, the U.S. State Department claims that they were recruited by a Daesh commander in Syria and videos were published in which they swore allegiance to the group.
2017
-March 24th. A group of alleged IS affiliates attacked a Russian National Guard post in Grozny, which resulted in the death of six soldiers and six attackers. He didn’t claim it, but the US attributed the attack to him.
-April 4th. Two Russian policemen die in a shooting in the southern city of Astrajan, in an action later claimed by IS.
– August 19. A 19-year-old from the Siberian city of Surgut wanders the streets with a knife and injures seven people, before being killed by the police. The attack, claimed by ISIS, occurred the day after similar ones that occurred in Finland and Germany, where several people were stanched.
-December 27. Explosion occurred in a supermarket of the Perekriostok chain in St. Petersburg, with about twenty injured. The pump, which had a power equivalent to 200 grams of trilite, did not cause serious damage to the building. EI became responsible for the attack.
2018
-February 8. An armed man shoots indiscriminately outside a church in the town of Kizliar against a crowd of people who were celebrating the Russian festival of the Másletnisa, similar to Carnival. Five people die and five others are injured. Claimed the same day by the IS.
-May. ISIS claims three attacks, one in Neftekamsk, another in Nizhny Novgorod and a third in Dagestan. They claim that they attacked police and a Sufi sanctuary, with no reported deaths.
December 31st. An explosion in a residential building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, in the Urals, causes 39 deaths. At the time of the tragedy it was believed that the building collapsed due to a gas explosion, but days later the IS claimed its authorship stating that it had killed 39 Russian “crusaders”.
2019
April 8th. There is an explosion in Kolomna, near Moscow, which was later claimed by IS. Supposedly there were no victims.
– July 1. A man kills a policeman with a knife at a checkpoint in the Chechen district of Achkhoy-Martonovsky. The policeman killed the attacker. The IS is attributed to the attack.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
International
Three salvadorans in Florida sentenced in $146 million construction tax fraud scheme
Three Salvadoran residents living in Orlando, Florida, were sentenced for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and wire fraud involving a scheme exceeding $146 million in the construction industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The sentence was handed down by federal judge Timothy J. Corrigan on Tuesday, July 29.
Eduardo Aníbal Escobar (45) was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez (36) to 3 years and 4 months, and Adelmy Tejada (57) to 18 months in prison, followed by 6 months of house arrest. All three pled guilty on April 3, 2025.
In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered restitution payments totaling $36,957,616 to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes, and $397,895 to two insurers for workers’ compensation claims related to the scheme.
Escobar and Rodríguez are permanent legal residents originally from El Salvador, while Tejada is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Salvadoran origin.
International
Kremlin hails preparedness after Kamchatka quakes leave no casualties
The Kremlin expressed relief that the earthquakes that struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula today —the first being the strongest since 1952— resulted in no casualties, and emphasized that the region is well prepared to face such natural disasters.
“Thank God, there were no victims,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during his daily press briefing.
The presidential representative stated that “all alert systems were activated in time, and evacuations were organized for residents in areas requiring it in response to tsunami threats.”
“Overall, the seismic resilience of the buildings proved effective (…) Therefore, we can say that the technological preparedness demonstrated a high level,” Peskov added.
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