Russia will use deadly attacks to its advantage | Wilnesh News

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s next steps are under scrutiny after he linked Ukraine to Friday’s deadly terror attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 137 people.

Russian officials and pro-Kremlin hawks continue to blame Kiev for the Crocus City Hall attack, in which gunmen killed concertgoers, including three children, and injured at least 140 others. Kyiv strongly denies any involvement.

Four suspects, three of whom were identified as Tajik citizens, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday night looking beaten, bruised and disoriented. They were charged with committing an act of terrorism and were remanded in custody pending trial.

Islamic State said over the weekend that it was behind the attack and released graphic footage of the incident through an Islamic State-affiliated news agency. U.S. officials and defense experts agree The Islamic State was most likely responsible for the attack.

But that didn’t stop senior Russian officials from blaming Ukraine and the West for the attack.

Putin claimed the attackers had ties to Ukraine and said they were captured on their way to Ukraine, claiming “a transit window has been prepared for them on the Ukrainian side.” He provided no evidence for this claim.

Former Russian President and Vice President Dmitry Medvedev on his Telegram channel Leave a comment on Telegram “If it were determined that these people were terrorists of the Kiev regime, it would be impossible to treat them and their ideological motivators differently,” he said.

High-profile Russia hawk and ultra-nationalist Medvedev added, “All these people must be discovered as terrorists and ruthlessly eliminated. Including state officials who committed such atrocities. Death as punishment.”

Kyiv has strongly denied any role or involvement in the attack. President Zelensky said on Saturday that “what happened in Moscow yesterday was clearly just an attempt by Putin and other scumbags to blame it on someone else.”

“They always use the same method. This has happened before. Bombed houses, shootings and explosions. They always blame others,” he said on the telegramcomments from NBC News Translation.

Russia is blamed Conduct false flag attacks in order to justify subsequent military operations or attacks. There has been some speculation over the years Russian security services were involved in a series of bombings in Moscow in late 1999, which gave Putin in his early days as prime minister a reason to trigger a second Chechen war and a massive bombing campaign to suppress the Chechen separatist movement.

The war greatly enhanced Putin’s popularity and control of power, and led to his first term as Russian president in late 1999.

Moscow publicly rejected and ignored the warning issued by the United States in early March: ‘Extremists’ have ‘imminent plants’ to attack large gatherings In Moscow.

The attack also raises troubling questions about the actual security risks Russia faces from Islamist militant groups at a time when Ukraine is clearly positioned as a major existential threat to Russia.

Just days before the attack, Putin directed Russia’s security services to focus on supporting Russia’s “special military operations” in Ukraine. He also said that Western countries have recently issued warnings (He called it “provocative remarks.”) about potential terrorist attacks in Russia that amount to “blatant blackmail” and have “the intention of intimidating and destabilizing our society.”

I would also like to recall the recent provocative statements made by some Western official institutions regarding possible terrorist attacks in Russia.all these actions

Maximilian Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, said: “Putin is so obsessed with this conflict in Ukraine that I think he will focus his security response on Ukraine and use that as an excuse to try to Build that narrative,” he told CNBC on Monday.

Hess noted that Russia’s “entire security establishment has been focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine” and said Moscow has ignored the Islamic State threat, which appears to be driven by Russia’s actions in Syria and previously in Afghanistan.

“Interestingly, Putin seems not to be paying attention to this aspect. He is very keen to blame Ukraine for this attack. There is no evidence that Ukraine is involved, which is inconsistent with the type of attack that Kyiv has carried out in the past, including on A work in progress,” Hess said.

“That in itself makes the Russians less safe because he is focusing on non-real security risks.”

Although Putin has not yet accused Ukraine of directing the attack, defense analysts say the Krokus City Hall tragedy will almost certainly be used to boost domestic support for Ukraine’s war.

“Whoever was behind the shooting, the Kremlin likely orchestrated the tragedy,” Andrius Tursa, a Central and Eastern Europe consultant at Teneo Consulting, said in a report on Saturday. its broader geopolitical objectives.”

He added: “Despite Kiev’s denial of any involvement, Putin’s attempts to link the shootings to Ukraine may be an attempt to divert public attention from internal security failures and signal the Kremlin’s efforts to drum up public support for its ties to Ukraine. Continuing war.”

Tursa said the remarks may also “attempt to prepare the public for a long-term confrontation with Ukraine and the West, which may require increased military conscription, higher taxes to support the war and an increase in domestic repression.”

CNBC has reached out to the Kremlin for comment and is awaiting a response.

Asked by reporters on Monday to respond to a statement from the Islamic State militant group claiming responsibility for the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it would be inappropriate to comment on the investigation into the attack.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia-Eurasia Center and founder of the analytics firm R.Politik, said it was “politically expedient” for Russian officials to blame Ukraine, but she believed the authorities would React more cautiously while investigating.

“To outside observers, it looks like Russia is doubling down on Ukraine. But there are nuances,” she told CNBC on Monday.

“When we look at the Russian media and the Russian political space, they are absolutely doubling down on Ukraine being behind it, and it’s mostly targeting a domestic audience. It’s very easy to speculate about Ukraine’s involvement, and that helps justify the war,” she said explain.

“But on a more technical level, they are trying to be more cautious when it comes to investigations. If they truly believe that Ukrainian secret services may be behind this attack, their statements will be more direct and harsh to the Ukrainians. Engagement, ” Stanovaya pointed out.