Vladimir Putin’s supporters have turned on the Kremlin over Muslim migration into Russia from Central Asia, comparing the situation with that of European cities with large minority populations.

Rybar is a prominent Telegram blog with more than 1.3 million subscribers and whose founder Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former military translator, was awarded the Order of Merit of the Fatherland Second Class by Putin in 2023.

Yet last month, it posted a scathing analysis of Russia’s rapidly changing demographics, using the Moscow suburb of Kotelniki to illustrate its point.

In a flashy, well-produced video, the channel pinpointed several areas where migrants had reportedly attacked residents. It also claimed that out of 8,000 local schoolchildren, 50 per cent were ethnically Russian.

The clip said terrorist recruiters were active at a Moscow junk market where weapons and Russian passports could be bought, and identified the locations of “ethnic brothels” and illegal mosques.

It ends with the on-screen message: “So, who benefits from this breeding ground of Islamic radicals, Russophobes and bandits near the Russian capital?”