The police and the security service FSB acted completely unprofessionally if the events of the terrorist attack in Moscow proceeded as the Russian authorities claim. This is what the research doctor of the Estonian Defense Research Center thinks Igor Gretsky.
Gretskiy considers it possible that some security service in the FSB could have hoped for the attack – or even directed it. Read here which aspects of Friday and Saturday’s events Gretsky thinks are strange or unusual.
1. How were the terrorist suspects able to escape hundreds of kilometers?
According to the Russian media, the terrorist suspects escaped from the Moscow concert hall in the same white car in which they had arrived. The researcher finds it strange that the Russian security service did not arrest the perpetrators immediately.
According to the security service FSB, the attackers’ car was stopped in a village called Hatsun in the Bryansk region, about 340 kilometers southwest of Moscow. One of the suspects was caught in the car and three in the forest next to the road, where they had fled.
Researcher Dr. Gretskiy points out that Moscow has 200,000 surveillance cameras around the city. He finds it hard to believe that the FSB would not have been able to arrest the terrorist suspects immediately.
In the same way, according to Gretsky, questions are raised by the fact that the perpetrators managed to escape in the same Renault car out of Moscow and all the way to the Bryansk region.
– I think this suggests that someone or some of the FSB knew about the terrorists and the attack in advance and allowed it to happen, Gretskiy tells by phone.
He does not rule out the possibility that the security service FSB planned the attack.
Swedish television SVT has found out that the clothes of the detainees seen in the arrest videos distributed in Russia are the same ones they wore in the previously shot video released by ISIS itself.
2. Researcher: The arresters of the terrorist suspects behaved exceptionally violently
The video above is from near the village of Hatsun, where the suspected men were arrested according to the Russian security service. According to Gretsky, what is striking is how abundantly the Russian administration leaked video footage of the events to the public.
Gretskiy is surprised that no special forces insignia were visible on the arresters’ clothing. He refers to the video material that has published above. The video was probably shot by the FSB. There is no certainty of its authenticity, but the independent Russian-language Meduza has located the video in Bryansk.
– The behavior of the captors was not usual. They used inappropriate means. I mean torture – it’s never been shown openly, says Gretskiy.
He is particularly surprised by the fact that the Russian administration leaked a lot of information and video footage of the suspects to social and traditional media. Information about the arrest and those arrested spread quickly during Saturday. A video of the torture of the suspects was also leaked to the public.
The propaganda of the Russian state was spread, among other things, by a representative of the Duma Alexander Hinstein and TV reporter Margarita Simonyan.
– The authorities have never before leaked information in this way, says Gretskiy.
The security service FSB claimed on Saturday that the men had connections to Ukraine, where they had also been on their way to escape. The media, repeating Russian state propaganda, spread the claim that the border between Russia and Ukraine had been open at some point so that the men could get out of the country.
Gretskiy finds the claim astonishing, as the Bryansk region is located close to the front lines of Russia and Ukraine. Control of the area has been strengthened considerably during the war of aggression. Therefore, the researcher considers it practically impossible that the border would leak.
– I don’t remember a single statement from the Russian authorities that they have problems controlling their border.
The FSB has not presented any evidence for its claims about the suspects’ connections to Ukraine.
3. The escape of the terrorist suspects was perhaps made possible by the chaos
A Finnish researcher has a possible explanation for the attack continuing for so long.
Four men of interest are accused of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow on Friday night. Information about the exact start time of the attack varies, but it happened before the start of a concert by the Russian rock band Piknik at 20:00 local time.
In the Russian media, it has been said that the attack lasted about 20-30 minutes. It has also been claimed in the media that the police would have arrived soon, as there is a police station near the building.
– It is unclear what they [poliisit] did. There is no evidence of how they work, says Gretskiy.
In his opinion, there is a contradiction between the time that has passed since the terrorist attack, the actions of the police and the successful escape of the terrorists.
A researcher who has worked for a long time in the Finnish police and the bear group at Harri Gustafsberg is a possible explanation for the attack continuing for so long.
– The police have some internal rule or order which police unit goes to a certain kind of event, Gustafsberg tells by phone.
In practice, it would be a special police force, and according to Gustafsberg, it would not be able to get there as quickly as the nearest police patrol.
Gustafsberg notes that the situation at the time of the terrorist attack has been chaotic and people have rushed to run away from the concert hall. That could explain the sneaking of the suspects on the run.
– If there are many exits, even finding out who is who is almost impossible.