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Few Russian leaders, apart from Stalin, have been as obsessed with their own security, and at the same time have failed so spectacularly to guarantee it to their people, as Vladimir Putin. From the bombings of residential buildings in several cities in 1999 to the March 22 terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, a concert hall in Moscow, his greatest fear has been his own grip on power. Unsurprisingly, the Russian president has tried to turn the latest security breach into a justification for his dictatorial rule and his war against Ukraine, which has already claimed thousands of lives.
At press time, the death toll had risen to 139. The terrorists appear to belong to the Khorasan province (ISKP) of the Islamic State, a branch of the Islamic State founded mainly in Afghanistan but with supporters in Central Asia. Officials had alerted their Russian counterparts to the impending attack. But for Putin, accepting that his American nemesis might act out of fear of the fate of the Russians (or out of a preference to cooperate in opposition to Islamist terrorism) would weaken his position. paranoid and conspiratorial worldview. So he directed his anger exactly at those who had tried to warn him.
“We know that the crime was perpetrated through radical Islamists,” Putin said on March 25. “But,” he asked, “who gave the orders?” Who benefits from this?This atrocity can only be one link in a series of attempts used by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 and the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev as an instrument. “Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB, Russia’s state security service, was quick to echo his boss, blaming the United States, Britain and Ukraine for the attack. Many senior Kremlin officials know that such accusations are absurd but are forced to back them up, according to a Bloomberg report. In retaliation, Russia could simply step up its use of missiles. attacks on Ukraine.
Putin seeks to cover up his own mistake. In early March, as part of their “duty to warn” policy, U. S. officials shared intelligence about a planned attack on Moscow through ISKP. On March 7, the FSB announced that it had killed two radical Islamists who were planning to attack a synagogue. in the city. Later that day, the U. S. Embassy in Moscow said it was “following reports that extremists are making plans to attack giant gatherings in Moscow,” adding concerts. On the same day, one of the alleged terrorists photographed the interior of the Crocus Town Hall. . A locker room guard later said that security measures had been tightened on that date and that staff had been informed what to do in the event of a terrorist attack.
However, on March 19, Putin called the U. S. warnings “blackmail” to “intimidate and destabilize our society. “Three days later, gunmen attacked a performance by the rock band Piknik, gunning down spectators and setting fire to the building. Subsequently, when ISKP claimed responsibility, the Kremlin tried to shift the blame to Ukraine.
Obviously, this attack is a blow to Putin and the security facilities on which he depends. But the Russian president knows how to take advantage of those mistakes to justify more war against Ukraine and more repression against his own. people. Russian police temporarily arrested 4 suspects fleeing near Bryansk, about 390 km southwest of Moscow. They then began posting horrific videos of the men being interrogated and tortured on pro-war Telegram channels. One showed a camouflaged officer pinning down a suspect (identified as Saidakrami Rajabalizoda, a Tajik national), cutting off his ear and stuffing it into his mouth. Another showed a photograph of Shamsidin Fariduni, a second Tajik suspect, with a battery attached to his genitals.
Maria Sergeyeva, former head of the Russian president’s office, explained the logic of the public exposure on her Telegram channel. One of the goals, he writes, is to sign off on would-be terrorists “who will not be treated as human beings, but as satan. ” Another and more vital is to give satisfaction to those who feel pain and anger. ” Working with dark energies, with the hatred of the crowd is not the most pleasant thing. . . [But] in a country that is conducting a special military operation. . . There’s a lot of that energy. And it’s better for the state to work with that. “
Generating hatred and cultivating cruelty is not so much a side effect as a goal of M’s war. Putin’s regime rewards those who engage in torture and murder, while punishing those who show mercy. In a country where opposition to the regime is seen as an act of extremism or even treason, publicizing torture sends a signal not only to would-be terrorists but also to their own security and elites.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former prime minister and president who expresses a more excessive version of the official propaganda line, echoed this point in a post on Telegram on March 25. Ask me what to do?Should they kill them [the suspects]?” Yes, they will have to be killed. And it will happen. But it is far more vital to kill all those who were complicit, those who aided them, and those who paid for them. Kill them all. Discussions about lifting the moratorium on the death penalty imposed through Russia when it was still contemplating a rapprochement with Europe are now common in Parliament. It will not adorn Russia’s security or protect its population from the Islamic State. But it will make Russians more vulnerable to terrorism from their own state. ■
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This article appeared in the European segment of the print edition under the name “The Uses of Terror”.
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Published as early as September 1843 to engage in “a serious struggle between the intelligence that presses and an unworthy and timid one that hinders our progress. “