A newspaper report revealedThe New York Times“The reasons behind the “failure” of the Russian security services to confront the bloody attack on a concert hall in Moscow last week, which claimed the lives of about 143 people, and was claimed by ISIS.
Among the factors mentioned in the report is the Russians’ lack of confidence in the information provided by foreign intelligence agencies, as well as their focus on Ukraine, in addition to the political repression carried out by the Kremlin against opponents, which leads to the distraction of efforts at home.
On March 7, the US Embassy in Moscow published a security warning to its citizens asking them to avoid any large gatherings in Moscow.
According to the newspaper, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) delivered a special warning to Russian officials, one day before the US embassy’s warning, which included at least one additional detail regarding the possible involvement of a branch of the Islamic State known as ISIS-Khorasan in the plot.
The newspaper added that the CIA was closely tracking the group and believed the threat to be credible, but within days, Russian President Vladimir Putin began to disparage the warnings, describing them as “outright blackmail” and attempts to “intimidate and destabilize” Russian society.
Three days after Putin spoke, gunmen stormed Krokos City Hall outside Moscow last Friday night and killed at least 143 people in the deadliest attack in Russia in nearly two decades.
ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the massacre with statements, photos and a propaganda video.
The newspaper notes that the Russian security establishment also acknowledged the internal threat posed by the ISIS-K branch, days before the attack.
According to information obtained by the Dosier Center, a London-based research organization, and reviewed by the New York Times, internal Russian intelligence reports circulated at the highest levels of the government warned of an increased possibility of an attack in Russia by Tajik extremists affiliated with ISIS-Khorasan.
American and European officials, as well as security and counterterrorism experts, confirm that even in the best of circumstances, with highly specific information and well-equipped security services, disrupting covert international terrorist plots is difficult.
However, they say that the Russian failure likely resulted from a combination of factors, most importantly deep levels of mistrust, both within the Russian security establishment and in its relations with other global intelligence agencies.
They also noted that the way Putin “hijacked” the internal security services and used them to launch a political crackdown on his opponents, as well as his focus on launching attacks against Ukraine and the West, were all distractions that may not have helped repel the attack.
The newspaper said that this description of the Russian failure to prevent the attack on the concert is based on interviews with American and European security officials, security experts and analysts specializing in international intelligence capabilities.
She added that many of them spoke on the condition of anonymity while discussing information involving sensitive intelligence details.
The Russian authorities announced the arrest of four men suspected of carrying out the attack, in addition to the arrest of several people on grounds of assisting them.
The four detainees are from Tajikistan, the former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
The latest Moscow attack is the deadliest attack in Russia in nearly twenty years and the deadliest for ISIS in Europe.
Despite the organization’s claim of responsibility for the attack, the Russian authorities insist on linking the attack to Ukraine, with which it has been militarily confronting for two years.
On Tuesday, the director of the Russian Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, accused Ukrainian and Western intelligence of “facilitating” the attack. Ukraine denies any connection to the attack.
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