As Russian "special military operation" faded due to economic problems, Kremlin "turned on" terrorist attacks — sociologist

He expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel.

"When we asked the Russians at the end of 2022: name what you are primarily concerned about - it was the war, they called it “special military operation", does not matter, 50% did not hesitate to name the war, less often they named economic problems. Now, during this year and a half of our observations, the figures are diametrically opposite - economic problems have come to the front, and there is a request to Putin, the elected president, to solve the economic and financial problems of Russians. The successful completion of the so-called special military operation is not mentioned in the first place - it is one of the top 5 problems," Shulha said.

The sociologist stressed that the Russian Federation also understands this, which is why the authorities have "switched on" the terrorist attacks.

"If, on the one hand, there are economic problems, the deterioration of the financial situation of Russians, and on the other hand, the war can no longer be an excuse for these problems, how can we explain to Russians what they have to endure? We see that another factor is being used - the factor of terrorist attacks, the factor of fear and the fact that the war is coming to your home. Crocus City Hal is just one of the first steps. This month, more than 250,000 times this topic has been covered in the Russian media," explains the head of the Institute of Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia. "However, we see that every day the Russians report that they have exposed this group, this group has been exposed, icons with explosives from European countries, which, of course, were stuffed in Ukraine, today another 17-year-old terrorists were exposed in Volgograd, and so on. Now the Russian regime is trying to find an answer to the fact that, on the one hand, war is routine, war is normal, but on the other hand, how can they explain why life is deteriorating if "everything is according to plan"? If we are winning, if the West is afraid of us, then why are we living so badly? And here they return to 1999-2000, to the factor of terrorism."

Terrorist attack in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall 

In Krasnogorsk, Moscow region, a shooting took place at the Crocus City Hall concert venue before the start of the Picnic band's performance. Over 130 people have been reported dead as well as many wounded. The FSB says it has allegedly detained the suspects.

Starting on March 7, American diplomats warned of the threat of terrorist attacks in the Russian capital, Moscow. Subsequently, similar statements were made by representatives of several other Western countries.

Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate is convinced that the shooting at the Crocus shopping center in Moscow is a deliberate provocation by the Putin regime, and the Foreign Ministry said the world should strongly reject Russia's false accusations of Ukraine's alleged involvement. The White House also rejected Ukraine's involvement. 

On March 23, Vladimir Putin made an address on the terrorist attack. According to the Russian dictator, Ukraine was "preparing a window" to allow terrorists who had staged a terrorist attack in Moscow to escape. 

On March 25, at a meeting with security officials, Putin admitted that "radical Islamists" had carried out the attack, but blamed the shooting on "those who are fighting Russia with the hands of the Kyiv regime."

The Secretary of the Russian Security Council, the Director of the FSB, and the spokesperson for the Russian President repeated Putin's version of the "Ukrainian trace" and the involvement of Western intelligence services in the terrorist attack in Moscow. At the same time, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko denied that the alleged perpetrators of the terrorist attack were trying to escape to Ukraine.

The Center for Countering Disinformation doubts that the Crocus attack could have been carried out by the perpetrators identified by the Russian authorities.

The US National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday, March 24, unequivocally rejected Russia's attempts to accuse Ukraine of organizing the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall shopping mall near Moscow.