Breaking - Shooting and Explosion at Concert Hall in Moscow

I’m baffled as to why people are sceptical it was Islamist terrorists.

As if Russia have no enemies in the Islam world.

Anyone remember the Moscow theatre hostage operation in 2002?

All of this is based on the assumption that Putin is holding back right now in Ukraine. It's very unlikely he has some hidden "devastating force" held in reserve.

He is throwing the entire Russian army and economy at Ukraine already and not getting very far.

Timothy Snyders take on this - always worth a read:

SNIPPET - Russia and the Islamic State have long been engaged in conflict. Russia has been bombing Syria since 2015. Russia and the Islamic State compete for territory and resources in Africa. Islamic State attacked the Russian embassy in Kabul. This is the relevant context for the attack outside Moscow. The horror at Crocus City Hall obviously has nothing to do with gays or Ukrainians or any other of Putin’s enemies of choice.

There's a couple of issues with this theory. Firstly, the US embassy in Moscow published a extremely short (1-2 lines) public security alert on its website on March 7th. It warned US citizens to stay away from public gatherings over the next 48 hours. (i.e. March 8th and 9th). Nothing happened. No attack on March 8th or 9th. Secondly, the Russians have stated that the US provided them with no information regarding any attack. If the Russians are telling the truth, then the US warning to Russia amounted to a public notice to its citizens on its embassy website which in any event proved to be inaccurate.

As for the Russians letting a terrorist attack happen in Moscow against their own people, that's a hell of a reach. Back on March 7th, the Russians killed what they described as an Islamic State cell that was planning an attack on a synagogue. They didn't let that attack happen just to frame it on Ukraine. And the Russians have absolutely no need for some "false flag" event to justify an escalation (what, over and beyond what they are already doing?) in Ukraine. Ukraine's attacks on places like Belgorod provide all the justification Putin could ever need. There is no upside to letting an attack like this happen in his own capital.

What's that quotation again? Something like ''This animal is very bad. When you attack it, it defends itself''

In Timothys substack article above

I love this bit:

He ( PUTIN ) claimed that the suspects in the terrorist act were heading for an open "window" on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

The term "window" is KGB jargon for a spot where the border has been cleared for a covert crossing. That the leader of the Russian Federation uses this term in a public address is a reminder of his own career inside the KGB. Yet Putin had obviously not thought this claim through, since a "window" must involve a clear space on both sides of the border. For escaping terrorists, it would be the Russian side that opened the window. By speaking of a "window" Putin indicated that the terrorists had Russian confederates preparing their exit, which he presumably did not mean. It seems that Putin was hastily making things up.

You know how to tell FSB is behind a terrorist act?

There are no hostages. Only corpses

• 1999 Russian Apartment Bombings - 300 dead, no hostages
• Krokus City Hall - 133 + dead, no hostages
• Beslan School Siege - 1000 hostages
• Nord Ost - 912 hostages

Notice an interesting thing about Beslan & Nord Ost

While Chechens were holding the hostages, it was FSB, who was ultimately responsible for the deaths of 334 people in Beslan (they set the school on fire) & 132 killed hostages in Nord Ost (FSB poisoned the theatre with gas)

Tweet content above - https://twitter.com/KateGoesTech/status/1771986176984936514

Commiserate over the reports for yourself: 'faulty intelligence or no intelligence at all'

Or more likely, Putin thought it was a trap of some kind....he actually mentioned it a being blackmail, to which he said that he would never succumb. For a Russian, nothing can be accepted at face value, or as the KGB said in the old USSR, trust, but verify.

Should do wonders for Putins raitings in country ( not )