Washington’s suspicious behavior centering Moscow terror attack

It is already reported in the media that on March 22, 2024, Friday, at least five gunmen in combat gear opened fire and detonated explosives at Crocus City Hall in Moscow city’s western suburbs killing at least 133 people and injuring 187 in a gruesome terrorist attack as audience was gathering to watch the veteran rock band Picnic. The death toll will increase further.

Preliminary data shows that the terrorists used automatic firearms, which are now studied by investigators. Ballistic, fingerprint and genetic forensic investigations of these firearms are underway.

Crocus Hall is one of the most famous venues in Moscow with a capacity of 7,500 people.

Alexei, a music producer, was about to settle into his seat ahead when he said he heard “several machineguns bursts” and “a lot of screams”.

“I realized right away that it was automatic gunfire and understood that most likely it’s the worst: a terrorist attack”, Alexei told the AFP news agency, declining to share his full name.

Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in a statement posted by its Amaq news agency, claimed its fighters had attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, “killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely”.

The Kremlin did not immediately blame anyone for the attack, but some Russian lawmakers were quick to accuse Ukraine.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on the Telegram app that if those responsible for the attack turn out to be Ukrainian, “all of them must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists”.

But Washington’s suspicious behavior following the latest case of terrorist attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall may be a huge scoop for investigative journalists as well as counterterrorism organizations. Let us first chronologically check certain facts:

Days before the terrorist attack, the US Embassy & Consulate in Russia in a Security Alert said: “The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours”. They said, “extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow to include concerts”.

And a terrorist attack took place on March 22 at Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow. Any guesses? This is neither a conspiracy theory nor disinformation. My observation is based on fact and evidence. Moreover, it is also essential to take one important point into consideration. A large number of people who were killed during the terrorist attack fell victims of gas released from explosives. Investigators said, the causes of death are gunshot wounds and poisoning by combustion products. In this case investigators need to find if the terrorists used bioweapon with the dangerous goal of killing a large number of people.

As we know, in August 2023 when Robert Kennedy Jr. told political commentator Tucker Carlson that the US has created biological laboratories in Ukraine within the framework of Pentagon programs on developing biological weapons, American intelligence agencies began frantic bids in concealing this bombshell exposure by spending millions of dollars on a large number of media outlets both within and outside the United States to immediately discredit this revelation.

Kennedy Jr. said, “We have biolabs in Ukraine because we are developing bioweapons. Those bioweapons are using all kinds of new synthetic biology and CRISPR technology and genetic engineering techniques that were not available to a previous generation”.

While just within hours of the gruesome terrorist attack, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kyiv is not involved in the attack at Crocus City Hall, almost simultaneously US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, US sees no evidence of Ukrainian involvement in the terror attack.

John Kirby said, “At this time there are no indications that Ukraine or Ukrainians were involved in Friday’s attack on Crocus City Hall”.

It is a matter of great mystery as to how Washington came to the conclusion stating Ukraine is not involved in the terror attack when investigation into the case is yet to conclude.

Meanwhile, a claim has surfaced that the attack was carried out by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) a regional affiliate of the ISIS terrorist organization. US intelligence told American news agencies that there’s “no reason to doubt” the ISIK claims of responsibility.

This is the second statement from the United States where is has “no doubt” about Ukraine’s involvement behind the terrorist attack in Moscow and secondly ISIS franchise Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP)’s claiming responsibility. Can someone ask – why Washington is in such a hurry of somehow diverting responsibility of the terrorist attack on third parties such as ISKP when it already is reported in the media that after carrying out the attack on March 22, 2024 night, “the perpetrators tried to escape by car, fleeing towards the Russian-Ukrainian border”, the FSB said on Saturday. “The criminals intended to cross the Russia-Ukraine border and had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side”, it added.

Meanwhile, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov has informed President Vladimir Putin of the detention of 11 people, including four who were directly involved in the killings during the March 22 terrorist attack.

The Kremlin in a statement said, “FSB Director Bortnikov reported to Putin on the detention of 11 people, all four terrorists directly involved in carrying out the attack”.

Further work is underway to identify the accomplices in the attack, the Kremlin added.

The Investigative Committee looking into the attack published a statement.

“Special services detained four suspects from those who committed a terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in the Bryansk region near the Ukrainian border”, Russia’s Investigative Committee has said in a statement.

The law enforcement agency stressed that an investigation into the terror attack is underway and that a group of investigators and forensic experts are working on the crime scene. Investigators are gathering material evidence, studying footage from surveillance cameras and talking to victims while the debris is being cleared up.

According to Sergei Goncharov, a veteran of the elite Russian Alpha anti-terrorism unit, he has no doubt in his mind that Russian investigators will ultimately find the masterminds behind Friday’s deadly attack on Crocus City Hall, and has an inkling about the man most directly responsible.

“There is only one way to qualify what happened – this was a terrorist act, meaning innocent people were harmed. They were simply executed,” Sergei Goncharov, president of the International Association of Alpha Veterans – an elite Russian anti-terrorism special ops force subordinated to the FSB, reports Sputnik.

“What happened today was a terrible tragedy, and I think, a link in a chain. Therefore, I think Ukraine will reject responsibility. Because nobody publicly approves of terrorist attacks. But in any case, at the moment I don’t see any factor that could take us away from the Ukrainian connection. It could have been some other organization, but I have no doubt that it was provoked by the Nazis of Ukraine”, the retired Alpha captain said.

Specifically, Goncharov believes Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov – who has threatened repeatedly to target Russian civilians, is most directly responsible for Friday’s carnage.

The terror threat emanating from the Kiev regime is real, Goncharov emphasized, pointing to almost daily reports by the FSB of operations to capture terrorists, arsonists, would-be suicide bombers, etc.

Commenting on the reports that two of the perpetrators had barricaded themselves and had engaged in a firefight with Russian special services, Goncharov expressed hope “that one of them will be taken alive, and we will receive information” regarding who exactly organized the attack at Crocus.

“Secondly, the investigation which will be carried out regarding this tragedy will in any case find the trace through which it can be determined who ordered it”, Goncharov summed up.

According to media reports, after carrying out the attack on Friday night, “the perpetrators tried to escape by car, fleeing towards the Russian-Ukrainian border”, the FSB said on March 23. “The criminals intended to cross the Russia-Ukraine border and had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side”, it added.

Media reports further said, “all four terrorists” were arrested in Russia’s Bryansk Region – not far from the border with Ukraine, within several hours as a result of well-coordinated actions by the security services and the police.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday addressed the nation about the Crocus City Hall shooting, denouncing it as a “bloody and barbaric” terrorist attack and vowing to punish all involved.

In his video address, the Russian president declared a national day of mourning on Sunday, March 24, to commemorate the victims of the attack.

Vowing to punish all conspirators behind Friday night’s attack, Putin noted that, so far, 11 suspects, including four perpetrators who directly participated in the shooting spree, have been detained. The attackers were caught fleeing “towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window to cross the border was prepared on the Ukrainian side”, he added.

“All perpetrators, organizers and masterminds behind this crime will get just and inevitable punishment. Whoever they are, whoever guides them. I repeat: we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this attack on Russia, on our people”, President Putin stated.

Meanwhile, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya in a statement said, Ukraine and the West have resorted to false flag operations to persuade everyone that ISIS was behind the terror attack in the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow.

The head of the media group stressed that the names and faces of the perpetrators are already known to authorities and that the terrorists gave everything away during interrogation.

“It immediately became obvious why US media were claiming in unison that it was ISIS”, she said.

Simonyan explained that the perpetrators were chosen to carry out the attack in a manner that would allow the West to persuade the international community that ISIS was behind the attack.

“Basic sleight of hand. The level of a railway thimble-rigger,” she added.” It has nothing to do with ISIS. It’s Ukrainians”.

She added that the enthusiasm displayed by Western media when they tried to persuade everyone that ISIS was responsible even before arrests were made gave them away completely.

“This is not ISIS. This is a well-coordinated team of several other, also widely known, abbreviations”, Simonyan concluded.

While Russian intelligence and law enforcement agencies shall further investigate this gruesome terrorist attack, for investigative journalists it is essential to find the reason behind Washington’s suspicious behavior and two particular statements – one stating Ukraine is not involved and the second one endorsing ISKP claims to be genuine. At the same time, the security alert issued by the US Embassy & Consulate in Russia may also be one of the most vital points for the investigators and journalists.