The US special services gave Russia only part of the information they had about the threat of a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow. The reason could be the fear of revealing oneʼs own sources or intelligence methods.
The New York Times writes about this with reference to officials in European and American special services.
"The enmity between Washington and Moscow prevented US officials from sharing any information about the preparation of the terrorist attack beyond what was necessary due to fears that the Russian authorities could learn about their sources or intelligence methods," sources said.
In its public warning on March 7, the US Embassy said the risk of an attack on a concert hall in Moscow would be high within the next 48 hours. The publicationʼs interlocutors among American officials suggested that in Russia, presumably, they focused primarily on the time frame — and when the attack did not happen during that time frame, they took the warning with disbelief. It is not clear whether US intelligence got the timing of the attack wrong or whether the attackers delayed the attack due to heightened security measures.
“Since FSB and Putin see the world through the prism of the US only seeking to hinder Russia, any information that does not fit this concept is easily dismissed. Such a dynamic could have devastating consequences," noted Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
After the terrorist attack, The New York Times wrote that the United States had gathered intelligence on the preparation of the fighters of "Wilayat Khorasan" (Afghan cell of IS) for the attack in Moscow and passed this information to Russia. A few days before the terrorist attack, Putin called these warnings "blackmail".
The head of FSB Aleksandr Bortnikov said that the Islamist extremists could not have carried out the attack alone, and accused the US of helping the militants. In response to the NYT publication, Kremlin spokesman Dmitrii Peskov said the Kremlin "doesnʼt know anything about it."
What is known about the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall
On the evening of March 22, 2024, a shooting occurred in the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow before the start of the performance of the band "Piknik". Four men entered the mall and started shooting everyone in their path. According to the latest data, at least 143 people were killed in the terrorist attack.
On March 7 and 8, the USA, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Latvia and South Korea warned of the risk of terrorist attacks in Moscow. The United States shared intelligence with Russia about the training of "Wilayat Khorasan" (Afghan cell of IS) fighters. Three days before the attack by militants, at a meeting with FSB officers, Putin called it an attempt to "destabilize Russian society."
FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov admitted that US special services had warned Moscow about the threat of a terrorist attack. He stated that the information from the Americans was general — the terrorist attack was not planned at the concert, but during the pseudo-elections of the president. Before that, he claimed without any evidence at all that the terrorist attack was facilitated by the Ukrainian, American and British special services.