“Attempt to destabilize”
Putin dismissed the US terror warning as blackmail
March 23, 2024, 7:37 a.m
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On March 7, the US Embassy in Russia issued a clear warning: Extremists are planning an attack in Moscow, the diplomatic mission writes on its website. According to US sources, the information will be shared with Russian authorities. But Vladimir Putin knew better.
Just a few days ago, Russian leader Vladimir Putin dismissed US warnings of an imminent terrorist attack in Moscow as “blatant blackmail” and an attempt at intimidation by the West. The independent Russian exiled news site, among others, points this out Meduza there. “All of this resembles blatant blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society,” Putin said on March 19 in an appearance that was also reported by the Russian news agency TASS reported had.
Putin’s statement referred to a March 7 message from the US Embassy in Russia. The American mission warned on its website of possible imminent attacks by extremists in Moscow. She recommended that US citizens avoid large gatherings of people. The embassy is investigating reports that extremists are planning to soon target large crowds, including concerts in Moscow.
The British Embassy also issued a similar warning to its citizens in early March. The White House in Washington DC said the US had forwarded all available information to the Russian authorities.
FSB reported terrorist operation
The Russian leadership rejects the suspicion that it may not have taken seriously an explicit warning about the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall that left more than 60 dead. The US government should have immediately passed on all information about a terrorist attack planned in Russia if Washington had had such information, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in the evening.
The deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitri Polyanski, even indirectly blamed the USA for the attack: “There are many questions that need to be answered…” commented he at X a screenshot of the US embassy in Russia about the terrorist attack.
Under Poljanski’s post, however, users point out that the Russian domestic secret service FSB had apparently also received an explicit terror warning. Because he already had the US warning self-explainedthat in the city of Kaluga, around 190 km southwest of Moscow, a “cell of the banned terrorist organization ISIS, whose members had planned an attack in the Russian capital,” had been dismantled.
Putin fails again
On Friday, several armed militants opened fire at a concert hall on the outskirts of the Russian capital, killing more than 60 people. 115 other people were injured in the attack and taken to hospital. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia claims responsibility for the attack. The perpetrators have not yet been caught.
The American political scientist Ian Bremmer calls the renewed failure of the Russian leadership in the area of national security “astonishing.” In less than two years, Putin made three major misjudgments, writes he has on the social media platforms Threads and X: Putin massively overestimated the ability of its forces to march into Ukraine and capture Kiev; Putin has that former Wagner boss Prigozhin allowed Putin to lead a mutiny all the way to Moscow US intelligence rejected information about impending terrorist attacks and failed to defend the Russian people.