Kremlin blames Ukraine for terrorist attack in Moscow despite threat to internal security - ISW

The March 22 attack by the Islamic State Khorasan on Moscow's Crocus City Hall is a notable failure of Russian intelligence and law enforcement

This is reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

According to military analysts, the available evidence from open sources does not suggest any more complex conspiracy theory within or against Russia.

And the fact that Kremlin officials and Russian ultranationalists blame Ukraine for the Islamic State attack could cost Russia's internal security and civilian lives.

ISW believes that the Kremlin and its ultra-nationalist mouthpieces are apparently ignoring the clear threat posed by IS operations in Russia to domestic security and its civilian population, and instead prioritizing the information impact of false accusations of Ukrainian involvement.

The Kremlin has decided that the information value of blaming Ukraine for the Crocus attack is worth any risks to internal security and civilian casualties that Russia may suffer due to its inability to adequately counter the radical Islamist threat within its borders.

• Professor of New York University Igor Eisenberg expressed his belief on Espreso that the intelligence services of the United States and other Western countries will not provide Russians with additional information about the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall shopping center. According to the expert, the intelligence services of Western countries will not risk their sources of information.
• On March 25, at a meeting with security officials, Putin admitted that the attack was carried out by "radical Islamists" but blamed the shooting on “those who are fighting Russia with the hands of the Kyiv regime.”