© REUTERS
US authorities specifically warned Russia that the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow was a possible terrorist target. This is what insiders say to the Washington Post. Russian authorities have accused the Americans in the past that their warnings were “not detailed enough”.
A bloody attack took place at the Crocus City Hall concert hall last month, resulting in 144 deaths. Russian authorities acknowledged in the following days that they had received information about a possible attack from US intelligence services, but said it was too general to prevent the tragedy. Russian President Vladimir Putin even publicly dismissed the American warning shortly before the attack as “an attempt to destabilize Russian society.”
However, it now appears that the Russian authorities – despite the bluff in the media – still took measures after the American warning: director Sergei Naryshkin of the Russian foreign security service SVR acknowledged this on Tuesday. An interview with a young man who worked in the concert hall on the day of the attack also revealed that the staff had been briefed about a possible threat.
Vigilance relaxes
Yet the terrorists encountered little resistance during their attack. According to the sources of the WashingtonPost it could be that the Russian authorities gradually thought that the American information was not correct after all, and therefore their vigilance had decreased.
The US often warns other countries when an attack is imminent. It is according to the WashingtonPost It is unusual for this kind of detailed information about the possible target to be shared with a rival power. This could inadvertently reveal how the Americans obtained their information.
