Finally, moving against extremists in the Middle East, Russia is defending itself. The Arab Spring, Islamists' successes in a number of countries caused a growth of activities of their soul mates in Russia. In 2012-2014 hundreds (or thousands, according to other reports) of Russian Moslems took part in demonstrations supporting Syrian Islamist opposition. The IS also has some supporters in Russia, including the Ansar ash-Sharia and Ansar al-Sunni groups active in the North Caucasus. Apart from Caucasian Moslems, there are some Tatars, Bashkirs and Crimean Tatars among those who sympathize with the IS.