Achi news desk-
Three weeks before the terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow in which extremists killed 140 people and wounded more than 100 – with responsibility claimed by the Islamic State splinter group ISIS-K – Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the Federal Security Service, undercover – information of the country of service.
Putin, a few days before an election to confirm him as Russia’s longest-serving leader, reaffirmed “the high status and authority of the service as a key link in the system of ensuring state security and Russian sovereignty”.
He claimed that the agency had “secured public safety”, and that the FSB in a “difficult, often aggressive situation” had “protected the state border and achieved new results in the field of counter-terrorism and the fight against extremism”.
“I would like to thank the FSB personnel for their professionalism and courage.”
Around the same time, the US warned the Kremlin and the public that extremists were planning an imminent attack. The State Department advised Americans to avoid large crowds and concerts in Russia.
The Kremlin’s response was to accuse the United States of trying to “destabilize” Russian society.
The bloodshed at Crocus City Hall on March 22 underscores a disturbing trend of incompetence within the Russian intelligence community, which has been evident since the invasion of Ukraine.
Multiple reports have highlighted a resurgence in Russian intelligence capabilities in the past year, citing their successes in recruiting agents in Europe, helping Russia evade Western sanctions and conducting cyber attacks to gather valuable information.
Yet, despite these reported successes, the failure to stop Moscow’s attack by militants claiming to be affiliated with the ISIS-K in Afghanistan raises serious questions about the effectiveness and priorities of Russian intelligence.
It simply failed to protect ordinary citizens.
Russia’s responses before and after the attack have followed a familiar pattern. Three days earlier, Putin claimed that the US warning of a possible threat was nothing but “obvious blackmail and an intention to frighten and destabilize our society”. After the chaos, Russia’s ambassador to the United States blamed Washington for the current lack of cooperation between the two countries in counter-terrorism. The American view is that all previous attempts at cooperation have failed because of Russia’s lack of interest in productive relations.
The attacks are an embarrassment to Putin and his regime. On the night of the attack, the first security personnel arrived at Crocus City Hall 20 minutes after the attackers left in the same car they had arrived in, driving more than 300km for hours on major highways, at times considerably more than the limit speed.
The Federation of Small Businesses intercepted the car and arrested four people near Russia’s border with Ukraine and Belarus. Fundamental questions remain regarding the Federation of Small Businesses’ reports on the situation, including simple ones such as the number of terrorists and the weapons used in the attack.
Then there are more complex questions, such as how the attackers appeared professional in their plotting and execution, as recorded by onlookers, yet their inexplicable lack of professionalism during their escape – the Federation of Small Businesses claims that the terrorists planning to cross into Ukraine, in an unfamiliar territory that is teeming with Russian military and minefields.
The subsequent court case involving 11 suspects the following day demonstrated, in the most public way, the routine torture practices of the FSB. If the visibly bloody state of the suspects was not compelling enough, images and videos circulated on Telegram channels depicted the torture inflicted on them.
In his first appearance 19 hours after the terrorist attack, Putin accused Ukraine of helping to organize the “bloody barbaric act”, a charge Ukraine has vehemently denied.
Even after ISIS-K officially claimed responsibility, and the suspects were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, Putin continued to blame the West, suggesting that the organizers must be the same as “those who are fighting against Russia with the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime”. Its propagandists, meanwhile, suggested multiple possibilities, from the United States to “Zionist revenge for Russia’s position in Gaza”.
Although Putin has expressed skepticism about ISIS-K’s involvement during Ramadan, ISIS has in the past disregarded the sanctity of Ramadan to carry out attacks. ISIS’s motivation behind such an attack should not be surprising, and cooperation between ISIS and Western intelligence agencies should not be sought.
Russia’s extensive military campaign in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad against ISIS has invited continued threats of retaliation. Russia’s friendly relations with ISIS’ enemies, among them Hamas and the Taliban, a long-time ISIS target, and the ISIS-K’s attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022, could have given a taste of what was to come.
Although Russia’s intelligence agencies have shown multiple failures since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, domestically, the Federation of Small Businesses has succeeded in crushing dissent. He has arrested anti-war protesters and scientists, terrorized the wives of serving soldiers, and the soldiers themselves, and carried out intelligence activities in the Ukrainian and CIS states.
Recovering from its initial failures in Ukraine, Russian intelligence has successfully and skillfully used intimidation tactics, as shown by the funeral procession of Alexei Navalny and the rigged elections that secured Putin a staggering 87% of the popular vote .
Although this terrorist attack appeared to bear little resemblance to the Moscow apartment block explosions of 1999, which were suspected to have been orchestrated by the FSB and used as a pretext for the second war in Chechen, there is little trust in the upcoming investigation. , especially among Putin’s opponents.
There is little doubt that the regime will use this terror attack to tighten the screws further – voices calling for the death penalty and talks about a new round of mobilization indicate some of the directions.
It seems that the security state has delved into the darkest parts of Russian history for its first act, with the official use of torture, the first since the practice was officially canceled by none other than the famous Lavrentiy Beria in his role as the minister of internal affairs. in 1953.
In 2024, it was introduced as a preventive measure in response to society’s demand, gathering hundreds of thousands of views on Telegram channels, and promises of a new terrorist attack by ISIS. This would give President Putin and his regime another opportunity to blame Ukraine and the West. Whether FSB will be able to prevent such attacks is irrelevant.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360 information™.
