Clarifying The Facts About The Crocus City Hall Terrorist Attack In Moscow

Reasonable conjecture like wondering whether Ukraine and/or the US were involved is fine seeing as how they’re waging a war against Russia, but it’s unacceptable to exploit this incident to spew conspiracy theories about a false flag, Trump, Yemen, or whatever else.

A small group of heavily armed terrorists killed at least five dozen people and wounded over 100 in an attack at the Crocus City Hall venue outside of Moscow on Friday. Although ISIS-K claimed responsibility, RT India tweeted that “The widely-shared image of what alleges to be a statement by the group taking responsibility for the incident uses a news template that ISIS apparently abandoned many years ago.” It therefore remains unclear who was behind this attack until the Russian authorities share confirmation.

ISIS-K is still the prime suspect, however, since the FSB foiled its planned attack against a Moscow synagogue earlier this month and the US intelligence sources told American news agencies that there’s “no reason to doubt” their claim of responsibility. The US Embassy in Moscow also released a statement earlier this month that it’s “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings”.

Although their warning was only for the next 48 hours from 7 March, it coincided with the FSB busting the ISIS-K terrorist cell, though many on social media have spun their statement as alleged proof that America had advance knowledge that another major attack was about to happen. Others like former President and incumbent Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev speculated that Kiev was involved, though the authorities have yet to share any evidence pointing in that direction.

Russia’s former leader also said in the same statement that there should be a “crackdown on [the terrorists’] families”, which echoes what he wrote shortly after the Crimean Bridge was bombed last summer. At the time, he demanded that “it is necessary to blow up their own houses and the houses of their relatives”, though it’s unlikely that President Putin will follow his advice to collectively punish their families since that’s not how Russia has ever operated when conducting anti-terrorist activities.

Medvedev’s emotional reaction is understandable, but he’ll surely realize once he’s calmed down that his solution only risks begetting more terrorism by creating legitimate grievances that can be exploited by radicals to manipulate the victims into carrying out more attacks. Instead of cracking down on the culprits’ families, Russia will continue with its investigation, which will enable it to determine exactly what happened and the full extent of foreign involvement.

Although ISIS-K is the prime suspect, it can’t be ruled out that the group might have been indirectly guided by hostile intelligence services into attacking Russia, which is possible if they had a high-level informant or group thereof within their ranks. President of the FSB’s International Association of Alpha Veterans Sergei Goncharov, for example, believes that Ukrainian military-intelligence chief Kirill Budanov was involved. No evidence presently exists to confirm that, but it’s also premature to dismiss this theory.

What can be said with certainty, however, is that this terrorist attack wasn’t intended to send a signal to Donald Trump or is connected to Yemen in any way unlike the conspiracy theories spewed by a top Alt-Media influencer on X. That individual speculated the first on the basis that the owner of Crocus City Hall is a friend of the former president, who once held a “Miss Universe” contest there, while the second was driven by reports that the Houthis agreed not to target Russian ships in the Red Sea.

It’s disappointing that such a prominent person would introduce such ridiculous conjecture into the discourse since this risks discrediting their respected partners by association. They’ve been hosted by a top Russian think tank, have a regular program on one of its international media’s foreign language platforms, appeared on a leading Russian talk show, and interviewed a commissioner from the Eurasian Economic Union, among other claims to fame. None of those partners dabble in conspiracy theories.

This just so happens to be the same person who earlier wrote that: Russia was considering a blockade-busting naval convoy with Turkiye that would be protected by its military assets in Syria; there’s a “near consensus” among the Russian deep state that “Israel may be a de facto enemy” of their country; Russia is “pivoting to Palestine”; its Gaza aid involves the “military spectrum”; and it’s preparing to prosecute Israel for war crimes. Their latest conspiracy theories are equally ridiculous and clearly false.  

The one about Trump doesn’t make sense since there are more direct ways to send a signal to him than attacking a venue that he once appeared at over a decade ago halfway across the world, while this analysis here relies on official Russian statements to debunk the claim of an alliance with the Houthis. Russia has dialogue with that group, which understandably wants its political support at the UNSC, but it’s also condemned their attacks against civilian vessels and supports the UN-recognized government.

Baseless conspiracy theories such as the ones spewed by that top Alt-Media influencer discredit the entire non-Mainstream Media community and that person’s prestigious partners inside of Russia. It’s one thing to wonder whether those who Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov unprecedentedly described as waging a war against Russia were involved and another to write that it’s “Not hard to do the math” to see that this attack is tied to Trump and Yemen. The first is reasonable while the second is ridiculous.

The objectively existing facts are that ISIS-K claimed responsibility using a template that they abandoned years ago, ergo why the veracity of this statement was questioned by RT India, and the FSB busted their members earlier this month before they could attack a synagogue in Moscow. The US also issued a warning to its citizens afterwards to avoid large gatherings like concerts for the next 48 hours and its intelligence sources later told American media that they don’t doubt ISIS-K’s involvement in this attack.

The investigation will determine all those who played any role whatsoever in what just happened, but since it obviously only just began and will still require time to conclude, folks will naturally share their own theories about this terrorist attack. Reasonable conjecture like wondering whether Ukraine and/or the US were involved is fine seeing as how they’re waging a war against Russia, but it’s unacceptable to exploit this incident to spew conspiracy theories about a false flag, Trump, Yemen, or whatever else.