As of: March 23, 2024, 6:34 a.m
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
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Masked attackers attack civilians in a Moscow concert hall.
© Telegram
A suspected terrorist attack shakes Russia's capital Moscow.
A letter of responsibility from the IS terrorist militia is circulating, but Russian media see it as a “fake”.
Moscow – On Friday evening (March 22), Russia was hit by a suspected terrorist attack.
According to recordings, at least four attackers with military equipment and assault rifles stormed the “Crocus City Hall” concert hall in the northwest of the capital Moscow.
They fired into the crowds.
The balance so far, according to Russian media: at least 60 dead.
Since there are still dozens of seriously injured people, it is feared that the number of victims could continue to rise.
IS claims responsibility for the attack: Russian bloggers doubt the authenticity of the letter
Now the question arises as to who is behind the attack.
A few hours after the incident, a letter claiming responsibility from the IS terrorist group appeared online.
The letter in which the terrorist militia claimed responsibility for the attack was distributed by official mouthpieces, including the short message service Telegram.
The letter was immediately adopted and distributed by Russian Telegram channels and bloggers who repeatedly cheer about Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
Just minutes later, however, the turning point came.
Suddenly, numerous prominent bloggers said that IS had not used the template that had appeared online for years.
There is also no such announcement in terrorist militia mouthpieces.
This claim that it was a “fake” was also supported by well-known Kremlin propagandists such as RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Solovyov, known as “Putin’s voice”.
“ISIS, ISIS?” Simonjan asked ironically in her Telegram channel.
She later wrote: “In short, the thing about IS is a fake.” Solovyov also spread messages from other bloggers that it was supposedly a hoax.
Does Russia want to “spin the narrative”?
US information provided Germans on IS terror in Moscow
However, completely different information came from the USA.
Anonymous US sources, citing intelligence information from Washington, told CBS News that there were indeed findings that the IS terrorist militia was responsible for the attack.
The USA published a warning at the beginning of March.
It emphasized that extremists could target large gatherings in Moscow - including concerts.
On the evening of the attack at Crocus City Hall, a concert by the Russian music group Picnic was planned.
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Terror expert Peter Neumann from King's College in London also believes that the terrorist militia's letter of responsibility for the attack in Moscow is genuine.
Neumann confirmed this at the request of the German Press Agency.
“The message of confession was broadcast through all official IS channels.
“I and my colleagues can confirm this 100%,” Neumann also wrote on the short message service X (formerly Twitter).
It seems clear to many why sources and bloggers close to the Kremlin are trying to immediately deny the terrorist group's letter of responsibility as a “fake”.
The attack was followed by several direct or indirect accusations from Moscow directed at the West and especially Ukraine.
The Kremlin could try to link the attack to the war in Ukraine and accuse Kiev of a massacre of civilians.
Neumann, for example, warned against this.
There is “already a lot of fake news - probably to spin the narrative that Ukraine was responsible for the attack,” wrote Neumann.
(bb)