According to its own information, the FSB confiscated 27 explosive devices with a total of 70 kilograms of hexogen explosives at the Latvian-Russian Ubylinka border crossing on Tuesday. The bombs were hidden in images of saints and, according to the FSB, were traveling from Ukraine to Moscow via a winding EU route: Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania. One person was arrested.
A week and a half after the terrorist act in the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow, Russia’s security organs are working at full speed. The FSB arrested a suspected pro-Ukrainian terrorist on Monday in Novoshakhtinsk on Russia’s southwest border. And according to the FSB, four “guerrillas” were arrested in the eastern Caucasus city of Dagestan on Sunday.
A wave of hatred against Tajiks is sweeping through Russia
They are said to have delivered money and weapons to the Crocus City terrorists in Moscow and, according to the FSB, were planning explosive attacks in a park near Kaspiysk. On Monday, a Moscow court took the tenth suspect to date into custody; the young Tajik is said to have used a bank card to pay for, among other things, the mass murderers’ accommodation in the Russian capital.
The background remains unclear
Things fared even worse for an arrested Chechen who died under unclear circumstances the night after the attack on a Moscow police station. The opposition Chechen Telegram channel 1Adat accuses the security organs of torturing him. The four main perpetrators were also severely mistreated after their arrest; one had his ear cut off and another had his eye knocked out.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin continues to accuse Ukraine of being the mastermind of the bloodbath. Photo: AFP
Since the bloodbath, state agencies have reported 144 deaths. But the fate of dozens of people remains unclear; according to the Telegram channel Sota, 95 people were still missing last week, many may be buried under the rubble of the collapsed concert hall. The survivors and those injured filed a criminal complaint against the owners of the concert hall because of security and fire protection deficiencies.
Why Putin’s finger-pointing at Ukraine can hardly be maintained
The background also remains unclear. There is increasing evidence that the online confessions of IS-Khorasan, an Afghan branch of the Islamic State, to the terrorist act are genuine. According to Reuters, in addition to the USA, Russia’s ally Iran had also warned Moscow of a possible attack. The information apparently came from Khorasan warriors who the Persians captured in January after bloody bomb attacks in the city of Kerman.
Moscow provides no evidence
But the Kremlin continues to accuse Ukraine of being the mastermind of the bloodbath. Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the sponsors would be exposed at all costs. And anyone who uses terror as a weapon against Russia must understand that this blade is sharp on both sides. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that the traces of all terrorist acts led to Ukraine.
They have increasingly specialized in hunting down people who think differently on the Internet.
A Moscow political scientist
However, Moscow does not provide any evidence. The state’s main argument remains that the four perpetrators fled towards the Ukrainian border. However, questions are also increasing in Russia as to why the armed terrorists were able to drive around 400 kilometers on highways dotted with surveillance cameras and police posts in their small Renault car, which had already been identified at the crime scene. It is incomprehensible why no order was given to stop them at the first checkpoint, an anonymous security official told the Vashniye Istorii portal. “They could have caused another bloodbath at the next gas station.” This suggests that those responsible knew where the terrorists were going. “It was either aid or negligence.”
Where Russians attack targets in their homeland
A Moscow political scientist, who also wanted to remain unnamed, explained that the Ukraine version, the new arrests, and the confiscated infernal machines in the images of saints were primarily intended to distract attention from the failure of the security organs. “They have increasingly specialized in hunting down dissidents on the Internet. This is much more convenient than searching for real IS terrorists.” The deprofessionalization of the secret services is in full swing.
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2024-04-03 11:19:59