Fake News Alert: Putin Didn’t Downplay ISIS-K Threats In The Run-Up To The Crocus Attack

This conspiracy theory is discredited by the documented fact that he ordered the FSB just days before the attack to ramp up their anti-terrorist efforts “in a meaningful way” and reminded them of just how dangerous such threats could be if they’re connected to Kiev and/or its Western patrons like he implied.

The latest conspiracy theory to circulate about the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow is that President Putin downplayed ISIS-K threats in the run-up to it, with the alleged evidence being what he told the FSB several days prior. He said that “I would also like to recall the recent provocative statements by a number of official Western structures regarding potential terrorist attacks in Russia. All these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilise our society.”

This quote was decontextualized by this media outlet to make it seem like he arrogantly dismissed the American Embassy’s warning about an impending attack against “large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts”, in the 48 hours after the FSB busted an ISIS-K cell in early March. A special services source also confirmed on Saturday that Russia received information “of a general nature, without specifics”, from the US. What this theory leaves out, however, is the rest of what President Putin told the FSB:

“I am asking the Federal Security Service, together with other special services and law enforcement agencies, to step up their counter-terrorist efforts in all areas in a meaningful way with the National Anti-Terrorism Committee playing its coordinating role.

We must understand that we are dealing with a formidable and dangerous adversary who has a wide range of informational, technical, and financial tools up its sleeve.

Make no mistake, we know what they are capable of in all these areas, including in terms of intelligence gathering, and we are aware of the terrorist methods they use too. Suffice to mention the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. They would resort to anything.”

Reading between the lines, he was implying that Kiev and/or its Western patrons might be somehow connected to the ISIS-K threats that preceded Friday night’s terrorist attack, hence why he ordered the security services to “step up their counter-terrorist efforts in all areas in a meaningful way”. The terrorists’ capture the day after extended credence to these suspicions after it was revealed that they were trying to flee to Ukraine where they allegedly had contacts.

Far from resting on his laurels, the Russian leader was proactively trying to thwart ISIS-K threats, which his security services informed him might somehow be connected to Kiev and/or its Western patrons. Seeing as how the Moscow metropolitan area has around 20 million inhabitants, it’s impossible to preemptively protect every major public area, plus any serious attempt to do so would disrupt daily life and risk provoking panic.

Not setting up detailed security checkpoints and posting armed guards at their entrances isn’t proof that President Putin was downplaying these threats since it’s unrealistic to expect any leader to do that in response to intelligence about a possibly impending attack. His criticism of those Western statements earlier in the month isn’t proof of that either since it could have provoked panic (as they intended to do) and suggested that they know more about these plans than the FSB does if he endorsed them.

The Russian leader said that “All these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilise our society” because they falsely hinted that those countries do indeed know more about a possibly impending attack than his own does. In situations where a country shares any such information about this with another, even if it’s only “general” and “without specifics” like the US did, the diplomatic norm is to not release public statements about it unless their partner does so first.

By doing what they did, they clearly wanted to provoke panic and discredit Russia’s security services, which is why President Putin lambasted them in his meeting with the FSB in the days before this attack. If he truly downplayed ISIS-K threats in the run-up to what happened, then he wouldn’t have ordered them to ramp up their anti-terrorist efforts “in a meaningful way” and reminded them of just how dangerous such threats could be if they’re connected to Kiev and/or its Western patrons like he implied.

It's therefore nothing but fake news to claim that he or anyone in his country’s security services are responsible for this terrorist attack because they allegedly neglected all the warnings ahead of time. Those who spew this conspiracy theory are doing so for information warfare purposes, which in some cases include claims that President Putin let this happen as part of a “false flag plot” to justify transforming the special operation into a war by Russia’s legal standards, and shouldn’t be listened to.