Roman Silantyev, an expert on Islam, said, "Most of the Wahabis live in Dagestan (there are some 30,000 people there). In Ingushetia, there are some 10,000. One of the most problematic republics of the region is Kabardino-Balkaria. The percentage of radical Wahabis is high among the Muslims of the Stavropol Territory."There is a war in Chechnya against Wahabis, but the problem remains. As for Wahabi sympathisers in the North Caucasus, "they are in the hundred thousands," he said.
"In general, the percentage of Wahabis in Russian Islam reaches some 5%, and in the North Caucasus it is 10-15%. When their number exceeds 40%, it will mean that they have won," Silantyev said.
About the radicalization of the Islamic clergy, he said there are no statistics on that, but he believes their number is "much less than a half." At the same time, some believe that the percentage of radicals among religious leaders is higher than among ordinary Muslims "because Wahabis mainly work with the clergy, and the percentage of imams who sympathize with them is high."
Many imams preach Islamist views "out of fear for their life and under pressure from bandits," Silantyev said.
When asked what could be done, he said: "We need to provide more effective physical protection to traditional Muslims and more effectively force people who don't want to live in peace and those assisting them to leave in peace."