Securitization Dynamics and Migration Policies of Russia: The Case of the 2024 Crocus City Hall Attack

Abstract

This thesis explores how migrants from Central Asia in Russia started to be perceived as a security threat after the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024. Using the securitization theory developed by the Copenhagen School, the study analyzes how migration was reframed from an administrative and labor related issue into a matter of national security. The article argues that the Crocus attack functioned as a catalyst event that activated pre-existing security narratives and enabled political elites to legitimize extraordinary migration control measures. This study is based on qualitative case study and using discursive analysis of official political statements, state-controlled media discourse, migration legislations, and public opinion data. The results of the study show that the Russian media is tightly controlled and centralized and its securitizing narratives were quickly translated into concrete policies, including stricter legal regulations, expanded surveillance mechanisms, and tougher deportation practices. At the same time the public opinion polls show a rapid increase in the perception of migrants through the prism of threats. This alarming trend is confirmed by the real facts of increased discrimination and exclusion in everyday situations. The thesis argues that the Crocus City Hall attack acted as a critical turning point that enabled pre-existing anti-migrant narratives to become institutionalized within Russian security discourse. Rather than remaining a short-term reaction to the crisis, migration securitization developed into a more stable and routinized mode of governance. By tracing the interaction between elite discourse, policy change, and public attitudes, this study contributes to securitization studies by demonstrating how, in authoritarian contexts, migration can be transformed into a durable security category that is embedded in state practices and reflected in everyday social relations.