The Russian authorities have been collaborating with Hamas militants for a long time, with the Russian leadership "feeding" the militants and coordinating their actions with them.
Serhiy Danilov, the Deputy Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, stated on FreeDom that "Russia has invested significantly in maintaining relations with Hamas and all Palestinian organizations."
"At some point, they segmented their support, meaning that separate resources were allocated for Fatah (a Palestinian political and armed organization), and separately for Hamas," he stated.
The analyst added that the support for militants goes back to the Soviet era. In Crimea, specifically in Perevalnoye, there was a base during the Soviet times where Palestinian militants were trained for the conflict with Israel. Some of these militants eventually became part of Hamas, and these relationships have very deep roots dating back to the time of the Soviet KGB.
Danilov shared that "Russia tried to nurture Hamas and provide them with a platform. Every meeting in Moscow was an additional platform. They came from Qatar; they came from Egypt, where they were based at one point... And they have been coordinating their actions with Hamas for a very long time and quite closely," emphasized the analyst.
