“But now, the focus is firmly on the apparent reappearance in Russia of large-scale Jihadi terror attacks, unrelated to the Ukraine war or domestic opposition to the Kremlin.
To make matters worse, the US and other Western governments warned of intelligence suggesting such an attack in early March. US officials say they have been notifying Russia on the intelligence for months.
But for some reason, Putin chose to ignore this, describing the warnings as a “provocation… to intimidate and destabilize our society”.
Perhaps it was distrust, with US Russian relations at such an historic low. It could also have been that the US intel was just too vague or not actionable.
But for a leader who has promised security and stability to Russians, a major attack on Russian soil is yet another powerful blow”.
“There is nothing to celebrate in this incident. Still, it’s appropriate to praise both the professional competence and — yes — ethics of U.S. intelligence, which detected the plot in advance and then fulfilled its “duty to warn” even an adversary government by sharing information with Russia,
officials told The Post. Indeed, t
he U.S. Embassy in Moscow announced publicly on March 7 that it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts.”
What cannot be explained is the response to this by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Three days before the attack, he
brushed off the U.S. warning, publicly denouncing it as “provocative” and claiming it resembles “outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.” He made this comment at a meeting of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the all-powerful successor to the Soviet KGB, which has been instrumental in arresting dissidents and anyone who has even slightly criticized Russia’s ruinous
war against Ukraine.
Did Mr. Putin’s FSB fall down on the job and fail to detect the gunmen moving through Moscow? To be sure, Russian security agencies claim to have thwarted
two previous attempted Islamic State attacks in Russia this month. The slaughter at the Crocus City Hall, however, suggests that Mr. Putin’s much-vaunted spy apparatus, perhaps exhausted and distracted by the war in Ukraine, is not quite what it’s cracked up to be”.
Islamic State has published a video of the Moscow concert hall attack after claiming responsibility, where multiple gunmen were seen brandishing rifles before firing on concertgoers.
www.kyivpost.com
