Putin dismissed US warnings about a potential terror incident as 'blackmail' just 3 days before concert hall attack

By Jake Epstein 

Business Insider

March 22, 2024

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A Russian national guard servicemen secures an area as a massive blaze seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow on March 22, 2024.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed warnings about a potential terror incident in Moscow just days before gunmen attacked a concert hall in the city on Friday.

At least 40 people are dead and more than 100 injured after multiple armed individuals stormed the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, state-run news agency TASS reported, citing Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, which called the incident a "terrorist attack."

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning about a potential terror attack in Moscow and urged people to avoid crowds, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings.

"The Embassy is 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 over the next 48 hours," the March 7 security alert said.

Nothing happened in that exact timeframe, and Putin addressed the warnings a couple weeks later, criticizing the warning three days ago as "provocative."

TASS said the aim was to intimidate and destabilize Russian society and quoted Putin on March 19 saying "the recent provocative statements of a number of official Western structures about the possibility of terrorist attacks in Russia."

"All this resembles outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society," Putin said, according to TASS.