In the Basmanny District Court of Moscow, where the investigation’s request for the arrest of the detainees was considered, all four were brought in with obvious signs of torture. According to human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin, the torture was apparently so severe that one of them was in a nearly unconscious state in court, while another resembled a “zombie.”
Vladimir Osechkin “In the case of the detention of real terrorists, the security forces would be interested in persuading the detainees to cooperate and obtain as much information as possible. Instead, the detainees were immediately tortured, after which they will say what they want to hear, rather than truthful information. This means that the security forces did not need information of operational significance,” Osechkin believes.
According to the FSB’s statement, the alleged terrorists were detained in the Bryansk region, near the border with Ukraine and a five-hour drive from Moscow. The perpetrators of the attack at “Krokus” violated traffic rules at least six times on their way. “The traffic police knew the details of their vehicle, but for some reason did not detain them at the early stages of their movement, giving them a ‘green light’ and allowing them to travel 130 km (which is about two hours of driving).
They were only detained where it was necessary, so that it was closer to the border. What were the fugitives counting on, knowing that their names and vehicle were known to the authorities, while checkpoints awaited them ahead? Apparently, only that they would not be touched. A common practice among terrorists is to change vehicles to cover their tracks. However, they used the same one, making it easier for the security forces to detain them at early stages. But for some reason, the security forces did not take advantage of this,” shared his thoughts Alisher Ilkhamov, an analyst from London.
Alisher Ilkhamov According to him, “only an idiot would rush towards the border in such cases, instead of hiding somewhere safe among other migrants.” “Apparently, they received instructions from their handlers to head towards the border. They were apparently assured that they would not be touched. But it turned out to be a setup,” the interlocutor believes.
The Russian publication “Komsomolskaya Pravda” released a video showing that during investigative actions on Dmitrovskoye Highway in Moscow, security forces discovered a cache from which terrorists allegedly extracted weapons for an attack on the Moscow region’s “Crocus City Hall.” However, the publication did not clarify why drones were not used to track down the fugitives before they reached the border.
BBC reports that a combat unit of the National Guard, located 3 kilometers from Crocus, is capable of covering the distance to “Crocus” on foot in just 15 minutes, even with full gear. “In the neighboring building ‘Crocus-Expo’ is the police department of the Krasnogorsk district of Pashino, which has a lot of combat weapons at its disposal — several dozen ‘IZH-71’ pistols and self-loading ‘Saiga-20KV’ shotguns. There is also a rapid response team there, but they did not respond,” BBC writes.
When reporting an armed attack, the actions of special units are clearly outlined in the instructions, a retired officer from the KGB-FSB special unit specializing in capturing particularly dangerous criminals and rescuing hostages told BBC on the condition of anonymity.
“There are no lengthy approvals now. As soon as information about gunfire or hostages comes to the duty officer’s desk, he gives the command, the first combat group — which is always on standby at the base in full combat readiness — immediately heads to the scene, and other combat groups are put on alert. The commander of the first group acts according to the circumstances, and if necessary, reinforcements are called in, an operational headquarters is established, and further decisions are made.
The task of the first, standby group is to arrive as quickly as possible. It doesn’t matter — by helicopter, by car. If that’s not possible — even on a donkey,” says a former security service employee. But this did not happen.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia claims that police officers arrived at the scene five minutes after receiving the report of gunfire at the duty station of the Krasnogorsk police department. This raises the question: how did the attackers leave the scene freely and without resistance when the police arrived? “According to available data, the terrorists entered the site at 19:55 and exited at 20:18, spending about 20 minutes there. Authorities claim that the police, whose station is nearby, arrived at the scene five minutes after receiving the signal from ‘Crocus.’ This means that the terrorists left after the police arrived. Therefore, for some reason, the police did not engage the ‘terrorists’ and allowed them to calmly walk to the parking lot, get into their car, and drive away,” says analyst Alisher Ilkhamov.
According to him, there are only two exits from the parking lot, one to the MKAD and the other to the road on the northern side of the complex. “After receiving the signal about the terrorist attack, the traffic police should have blocked these two exits, but for some reason, they did not,” the interlocutor noted. Russian security forces claim that such an order was given, but despite this, the vehicle of the suspects in the attack reached Bryansk region without hindrance.
According to journalist Anwar Derkach, a terrorist attack occurred and Russian security forces were unable to prevent it. “They couldn’t or allowed it to happen,” he emphasizes.
In early March, the United States and the United Kingdom warned their citizens about the threat of a terrorist attack in Moscow that could occur in the coming days. The embassies of these countries urged their citizens to avoid large gatherings and crowds. “The embassy is monitoring reports that extremists are planning to attack large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts, in the near future, and U.S. citizens should avoid large gatherings,” stated, in particular, the U.S. embassy.
According to Alisher Ilkhamov, when Western countries received information about a planned terrorist attack in Russia and shared it with Russia, Moscow did not take serious measures, suggesting that someone was interested in the attack occurring. The Investigative Committee of Russia, without providing irrefutable evidence, identified detained Tajik citizens Dalerjon Mirzoev, Saidakram Rajabali-zoda, Faridun Shamsiddin, and Muhammadsobir Faizov as the main suspects in the attack, and the court decided to arrest them.
The terrorist group “Islamic State,” having published a first-person video where terrorists shoot visitors at “Crocus City Hall” at close range and execute a random person amidst shouts of slogans, claimed responsibility for the attack in the Moscow region. In the video, the faces of the terrorists are initially blurred (unclear), and their voices are altered. Western countries suspect the group “Vilayat Khorasan” – a division of ISIS in Afghanistan – of organizing the attack.
Most experts have no doubt that the incident was a terrorist attack, raising more questions about the actions of Russian authorities and their statements with numerous inconsistencies. The most important question is whether the real suspects have been detained.
President of the “Officers of Alpha Group” Alexey Filatov stated in an interview with Channel Five that it is possible that there were two groups of terrorists acting in “Crocus City Hall” — shooters and those who started the fire. Another group acted outside, reporting the situation to them. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to carry out all these actions in 18 minutes with four attackers involved. He also doubts that the attack was the work of ISIS.
According to Alisher Ilkhamov, “there is little doubt that the attack was carried out by individuals representing ISIS, considering that ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the previously mentioned facts indicate that there was certain complicity on the part of the Russian authorities.”
Anwar Derkach, a Ukrainian journalist, also believes that the actions of the Russian authorities in this incident raise many questions. “We all saw these videos, obviously recorded by Russian security service employees, these horrific scenes of ear-cutting, of electric torture. Court hearings for the detention of suspects are held in closed sessions, while torture is public. Until now, everything has been the opposite,” he said.
An expert also pointed out a technical, but important, moment, in his opinion. “Weapons. We all saw the video from the concert hall, when an armed man shoots at visitors with an AK-12 assault rifle, if I’m not mistaken, this is the most modern firearm. Not even the entire Russian army is equipped with these rifles, as this weapon is so new. And another detail regarding this moment – while reporting to Putin, the head of the Investigative Committee, Bastrykin, when talking about the weapon used in the crime, refers to the AK-74. So this is not the weapon we saw in the video. These are technical inconsistencies that currently have no logical explanations,” said Derkach.
Russian media without the slightest doubt labeled four citizens of Tajikistan as “terrorists,” while the authorities of that country point to a “Ukrainian trace,” providing no evidence.
Olga Romanova, head of the public fund “Russians Behind Bars,” also states that she sees many inconsistencies and oddities – in terms of timing, the behavior of some plainclothes individuals, the so-called “blue people,” the demonstrative recording of the torture of detainees, and the absurd escape of the suspects. According to her, if we believe the statements of the Russian authorities, the terrorists acted professionally, but the question remains unanswered as to how these “professionals” committed obvious foolishness?
Olga Romanova “There are some obvious things that indicate that something is wrong. I completely do not understand how people accused of terrorism received bank transfers of half a million rubles on their official ‘Mir’ card and allegedly went to Ukraine with it. Why would they need a ‘Mir’ card and half a million rubles there? Rubles are not used in Ukraine, and the ‘Mir’ card is not accepted. And the behavior of the terrorists themselves is very foolish and strange; they clearly followed someone’s orders to head towards the border with Ukraine. Both Putin and Bortnikov talk about a ‘window’ at the border, but there are two sides to the border – Russian and Ukrainian, which means someone promised to open their passage from the Russian side of the border,” noted the interlocutor. In Romanova’s opinion, Russia has entered a new stage of its political life, openly demonstrating the torture of detainees, advocating for the return of the death penalty, and creating an atmosphere of fear in society.
Alisher Ilkhamov believes that Russia currently appears as a victim of terrorism and will definitely use this incident in its interests to make serious changes in the war with Ukraine and its migration policy. “Yes, what happened looks like the FSB missed the terrorist attack. However, there are many more advantageous moments for Putin’s regime – this justifies the war with Ukraine (and even the possible nuclear strike against it), a new wave of mobilization, as well as the prospect of appearing to the whole world as a victim of terrorism,” he says.
U Anvar Derkach, a journalist from Ukraine, has a different opinion: “I believe that the Russian special services knew about this terrorist act in advance, but distanced themselves, and they decided to use the results of this terrorist act for their own interests. This allows them to apply repression in Russia without regard to public opinion, in a completely wild and unprecedented form and scale. That is, they can use electric shocks and cut off ears, and whoever the authorities point to will be labeled a terrorist. In Russia, there are no people willing to doubt the authorities’ statements. The authorities said this is a terrorist, so this is a terrorist and they can be cut. For me personally, this signifies a sharp change in political course, meaning the Russian authorities are showing that we will do whatever we want, however we want, we fear no one and we have no brakes.”
Despite numerous questions and inconsistencies, the Russian authorities have not yet provided details or comprehensive answers. No recordings from the surveillance cameras installed inside the “Crocus City Hall” building have been published, however, recordings from speed control cameras showing the vehicle used by the alleged terrorists have become available. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing, but Russian media loudly present the detained Tajiks as “terrorists.” The propaganda machine on this issue is so strong that it creates the impression that the goal of the Russian authorities is not to find and punish the true culprits, but to convince the entire world community that the terrorist act was undoubtedly committed by tortured Tajiks.
