THERE IS NO RUSSIA:

Russia risks a repeat of its bloody entanglements in Chechnya if it annexes Crimea, a senior Crimean Tatar leader has warned, with extremist elements in the community threatening jihadi-style violence against Russian troops occupying the peninsula.

Mustafa Jemilev, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, said a number of militant Tatars had approached him to say they would fight the Russians.

"We have Islamists, Wahhabis, Salafis . . . groups who have fought [with the opposition] in Syria," he said in an interview in Simferopol, the Crimean capital. "They say: 'an enemy has entered our land and we are ready'.

"We can't stop people who want to die with honour," he said, making he clear he did not endorse a jihadist campaign.

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