Oddities And Inconsistencies In Official Version Of Crocus City Hall Terrorist Attack

There are seven of them.

There is virtually no doubt that the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall was carried out by terrorists from the Islamic State. But Russian authorities are still in no hurry to blame the Islamic State, focusing on Ukraine. There are many inconsistencies in their actions and words — the feeling is that the Russian state deliberately “slept through” the militant attack. We Can Explain explains what is wrong with the terrorist attack itself and the reaction to it.

1) Russia was warned. Right before the militants’ attack on Crocus City Hall, Russian security forces received warnings from the United States about an impending terrorist attack. This was reported by the Russian state agency TASS, citing a source in the Russian intelligence service. But Russian authorities disregarded the warnings.

2) Permissiveness for terrorists. One of the militants visited Crocus City Hall shortly before the attack. But it didn't raise any suspicions. The “smart city” system installed in Moscow did not work.

3) Slowness of security forces and firefighters. Judging by the cameras, the first flashing lights appeared at the scene of the emergency half an hour after the shooting was reported. But, having arrived at the place, the security forces were in no hurry to storm. The storm started only at half past nine in the evening.

4) Strange behavior of the terrorists. Militants killed innocent people for only 500 thousand rubles. Propaganda claims that the terrorists were carefully trained. But they did not change the car when they left the capital, although real professionals would have thought about this.

5) Accusations against Ukraine. Putin said that the criminals were trying to leave for Ukraine, where a “window” was waiting for them. But the car was stopped near the border with Belarus — only 43 kilometers from the border. It’s 118 kilometers to Ukraine.

6) Strange detention. A few minutes after the arrest, a video of the interrogation of the terrorists appeared on Telegram channels. And it's very strange. “No one is posting the interrogation of the main suspect online, because now the entire chain (customer, intermediary and contractor) will get into hiding. And they publish the interrogation right away,” marvels military expert Sergei Auslender.

7) Problems with time. Khinshtein reported that the criminals were detained in the Bryansk region at night. It was around 3:30 am. However, judging by Yandex.Maps, it takes at least 7.5 hours to get from Krasnogorsk to the Bryansk region.