US warned Kremlin that terrorists would target Crocus City Hall – WP

The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, has stated that the US government informed Russian officials that the Crocus City Hall concert venue was a potential target for terrorists two weeks before the attack.

Source: The Washington Post

Details: The newspaper raises rhetorical questions about why the Russian authorities failed to take more stringent measures to protect the site where militants killed over 140 people and torched the building.

Islam Khalilov, a teenager who worked as a cloakroom attendant at the concert venue, helped people evacuate from the building that night. In an interview, he said the staff had been warned about the possibility of a terrorist attack.

A synagogue in Moscow was the terrorists' likely secondary target. The very next day after the warning, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that an attack by Islamic State militants on a synagogue in Moscow had been prevented.

The US National Security Council and the Kremlin declined to comment on the matter.

The United States regularly shares information about possible terrorist attacks, even with unfriendly countries, in line with the principle of "duty to warn", but does not disclose information about specific targets in order not to give away the source of information. The fact that the US intelligence services named a specific location of the attack indicates a danger to American citizens, WP noted.

The sources said the information was passed to the FSB on 6 March. The US Embassy in Moscow and a number of Western diplomatic missions issued warnings to their citizens on 7 March about possible terrorist attacks in crowded places in the Russian capital. At a board meeting of the FSB on 19 March, Russian leader Vladimir Putin branded the warning as blackmail and provocation.

Background:

• A shooting incident occurred prior to a concert by the band Piknik at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, on the evening of 22 March. A group of individuals opened fire on concert attendees, resulting in the death of at least 144 people.
• ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting. However, Russia stubbornly continues to accuse Ukraine of the attack, providing no evidence. Kyiv strongly denies these accusations.

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