Thou­sands of eth­nic Rus­si­ans con­vert to Islam annu­ally, accord­ing to the mem­bers of the Mufti Coun­cil of Rus­sia. Con­cerned with the idea of pro­tec­tion of the Rus­sian (mean­ing – Ortho­dox) iden­tity, the gov­ern­ment launched a sys­tem of per­se­cu­tion of the con­verts, brand­ing them as ter­ror­ists. Many of them flee, but the Rus­sian secret ser­vices try to hunt them down even abroad, and for­eign coun­tries treat them with suspicion.