Terrorist attack in Russia exposes vulnerabilities of Putin's regime
In a televised speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the
attack on a popular Moscow concert venue that killed over 130 on March
22
When Vladimir Putin finally spoke about the worst terrorist attack to
hit Russia in 20 years, he swept over the glaring failure of his
security state to prevent the assault, which left at least 133 dead,
despite a clear warning from the United States on March 7 that a
strike on a concert hall could be imminent.
He also made no reference to the Islamic State, which claimed
responsibility for the attack at the Crocus City concert hall on
Friday and which Putin denounced repeatedly as an enemy throughout
Russia's long military intervention in Syria. In 2017, Putin declared
victory over the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Putin instead used his five-minute televised address on Saturday to
emphasize that the four direct perpetrators were "moving toward
Ukraine" when they were detained and that "a window was prepared for
them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border." He did not
directly accuse Ukraine, which has denied any involvement, but a
reference to "Nazis" -- his usual label for the Ukrainian government
-- made clear that he was blaming Kyiv.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/24/vladimir-putin-terror-attack-russia/
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