Distrust between intelligence services: Why did the FSB and Putin miss the terrorist attack in Crocus? – NYT

Russian authorities failed to prevent a terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall because they rejected warnings from Western intelligence agencies. The FSB could also learn about the possibility of an attack. The threat was “rejected” because Russian President Vladimir Putin was more interested in Ukrainians than ISIS terrorists. Features of the work of Russian special services were described on the portal of The New York Times.

The publication’s journalists met with officials and counter-terrorism experts from the United States and European countries. The interlocutors agreed that the terrorist attack, in which more than a hundred people lost their lives, was caused by a wide variety of reasons.

Important

Experts have identified two reasons for the events in Crocus. First of all, there is distrust in the FSB structure; they do not listen to their colleagues and do not trust Western intelligence agencies. Secondly, the security forces, at Putin’s request, “chased” fictitious “Ukrainian saboteurs” and the opposition, thereby causing them to lose vigilance and vigilance.

As a result, it turned out that neither special services nor law enforcement agencies could protect Russian citizens from real threats. It is important that the head of the Kremlin has been in power for almost 25 years and promises stability and security to the population.

The article listed the sources from which the Kremlin received information about the possibility of a terrorist attack:

• A public warning from the US Embassy and some Western countries on March 8, 2024, urging people not to visit crowded places;
• The CIA reported through its channels that ISIS members were preparing for a terrorist attack in the Russian Federation;
• The second department of the FSB, specialized in ISIS terrorists, was also aware of the possible threat.

“The failure was most likely the result of a combination of factors, in particular the deep level of distrust within Russia’s security service and in its relations with other global intelligence agencies,” the journalists’ anonymous interlocutor said.

Shooting in Crocus – details

It should be noted that on March 22, a group of four immigrants from Tajikistan freely entered the Crocus City Hall concert hall. Focus. You can see people being shot in photos and videos taken from the scene. At one point one of the halls was set on fire. At the same time, fire protection did not work and the burning roof collapsed on visitors.

Within a few hours, Russian security forces detained four people in the Bryansk region who had nearly crossed the Russia-Belarus border. After being tortured, the detainees were brought to the court alive and were detained there until May 22.

The international terrorist organization ISIS released a statement stating that it was the one who carried out the attack in Çiğdem. US intelligence services are talking about this because they warned of this particular threat.

Meanwhile, Putin, Russian propagandists and officials began to blame Ukraine for the terrorist attack, even though they had no basis for such statements.

We would like to remind you that on March 28, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War announced that the Russian Federation plans to use the attack in Crocus to provoke the Russians against the Ukrainians. At the same time, the military expert noted that Putin, having gathered a new group of mobilized people, could carry out a second attack on Kharkov in the summer.