As of: March 25, 2024, 1:18 p.m
By: Michael Kister
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Press
Split
Putin's security services failed to protect Russia from terror.
The hunt for dissidents has blinded them.
Their well-known answer: martial violence.
Moscow – At least 137 people died in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in the Russian capital, according to the Russian Investigative Committee, and over 180 sustained injuries, according to the Moscow Region Ministry of Health.
This is the deadliest attack on Russian soil since more than 300 people died in the Beslan hostage crisis in 2004.
The Islamic State (IS) claimed to be the perpetrator of the recent bloodbath in Moscow, but Vladimir Putin refuses to accept it.
One possible reason: The Kremlin ruler would have to admit the mistakes of his powerful security services and admit how unsafe Russia actually is.
The Russian side has so far ignored IS's letter of responsibility, which Western experts classify as credible.
IS-Khorasan, an offshoot of the terrorist organization from Afghanistan, is said to be responsible, but it also recruits a lot of fighters in the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, terrorism researcher Peter Neumann told ARD
.
An officer from the Russian Investigative Committee clears rubble at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow on March 23, 2024.
A devastating act of terrorism took place there on March 22nd.
© IMAGO/Russian Investigative Committee
Putin ignores Washington's warning: Hardly any police presence at Crocus City Hall
US security services had already sent a warning directly to Moscow on March 7th, saying that IS was planning an immediate attack in the Kremlin City.
However, three days before the terrorist attack, Putin accused the USA of wanting to “intimidate and destabilize” Russian society.
How little he paid to the warning is reflected in the fact that no additional security measures appear to have been taken for major events such as the concert at Crocus City Hall.
The British
Guardian
reported numerous eyewitnesses who spoke of an extremely low police presence on site.
It is also significant that the assassins were able to freely pursue their murderous plans and then escape unmolested.
For example, in the devastating terrorist attack on the Paris event location Bataclan and other targets on September 13, 2015, seven attackers were shot dead on site by security forces.
Islamism from Central Asia is a weak point of the FSB
Security and Russia expert Mark Galleoti told the
Guardian
that the failures of the Russian security apparatus were due to an incorrect focus by the domestic intelligence service FSB: “They had focused their main resources on Ukraine and on the domestic opposition.
These are the priorities that are being imposed on them from above.” It is therefore not surprising that Ukraine is now being held responsible instead of IS: four of the attackers are said to have had contacts in Ukraine, according to the FSB.
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Galleoti went on to say that Islamist terrorism from Central Asia was a weakness of the Russian domestic intelligence service.
“The FSB has a lot of experience with extremists from the Caucasus, they have devoted extensive resources to it, but Central Asia is more of a blind spot.”
Moscow: A “Security Theater”
In addition to this specific weakness, there is a general one: Moscow is one of the most heavily monitored cities in the world, but Russia expert Professor Jeremy Morris calls this
a “security theater” in the independent
Moscow Times .
In reality, the ubiquitous metal detectors and entry controls have become so routine that security guards no longer take them seriously, says Morris.
For example, there is no awareness among broad sections of the population that lonely suitcases could pose a danger.
People rely on the state to sort it out.
However, it seems rather unlikely that he will.
Jill Dougherty, CNN's former Moscow bureau chief, said on the US television network that Vladimir Putin would now respond in the same way he did to all terrorist attacks during his presidency.
She suspects that the Russian security agencies will "conduct another investigation that will lead to some conclusion," but Dougherty doesn't think "they will explain, even if they know, what the actual intention behind it was."
The FSB reacts in a well-known way - with violence
One reaction that Russian security organs have mastered is violence, and that is already becoming apparent.
Eleven suspects have now been arrested in connection with the attack, including the four attackers.
It was said that investigators had begun questioning those arrested.
Pictures of the men taken when they were brought before a judge for the first time on March 24th suggest how this happened.
Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, one of the four suspects in connection with the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024, at a hearing in the Basmany District Court on March 24.
© IMAGO/Sergei Fadeichev
Their faces are swollen, their eyes are blue, and one has a bandage over his right ear.
The Russian exile broadcaster
Dozhd
reported, citing Telegram channels, that part of the man's ear was cut off when he was captured.
He was then forced to eat the cut part.
This report cannot be independently verified.
However, the images leave no doubt that the Russian security authorities initially reacted with brutality to what they are not allowed to explain.
It is feared that Russia's further reaction will also focus on retaliation rather than education.
This will not make the Russian population any safer.
(mk)