[x]

The largest number of IS militants are being recruited inside Russia, especially as the FSB has encouraged local Islamists to travel to Syria and Iraq on the assumption that this would reduce insurgencies in the North Caucasus and increase pressure on the West.

I don't entirely buy that.

I doubt the FSB recruited them and payed for their transport.

The Islamists could come back better trained and supplied.

Whenever there is a crackdown anywhere those cracked down on are "encouraged" to move elsewhere, but his version doesn't smell right.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

I think what the writer is saying (which I agree with) is that ISIS has successfully recruited many Russian nationals...as a large proportion of Russia’s population is in fact Muslim. Sunni also.

It’s not so much that the FSB recruits them directly, but that they use the phenomenon to their advantage.