Kremlin spokesmen have accused Britain and the United States of “complicity” if terrorists attack Moscow after embassies warned of an “imminent attack” on the Russian capital.
The embassies said “extremists” were planning to attack large gatherings and warned citizens to avoid events over the next two days.
It was not clear who was believed to be planning the attacks, but people have been told to avoid crowds, monitor local media updates and be aware of their surroundings, while the UK and US embassies also They advised their citizens against traveling to Russia.
The alerts cover a 48-hour period that includes festivities related to International Women’s Day, a major holiday in Russia.
In connection with the celebration, several concerts will be held in the capital.
While the Kremlin has yet to comment on the warnings, other influential voices in Russia, including Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russian state-controlled news outlet RT, expressed anger at the intervention.
Kremlin spokesmen have accused Britain and the United States of “complicity” if terrorists attack Moscow after embassies warned of an “imminent attack” in the Russian capital (pictured, file photo)
While the Kremlin has yet to comment on the warnings, other influential voices in Russia, including Margarita Simonyan (pictured, file photo), editor-in-chief of Russian state-controlled news outlet RT, expressed anger at the intervention.
“The embassies of the United States and Great Britain warned about the threat of terrorist attacks on March 8 in Moscow,” he said, according to the Telegram channel of ASTRA, an independent Russian journalism project.
‘They (US citizens) are asked to avoid large gatherings for 48 hours… If they have specific information, they must pass it on through the intelligence services.
I hope you did. And if not, then this is complicity,” added Simonyan, a staunch ally of Putin and a top Kremlin propagandist.
Other pro-Putin Telegram channels also spread conspiracy theories in reaction to the embassy warnings.
“The United States and Great Britain have even stopped hiding that they are behind the terrorist attacks in Russia,” wrote one of them – RIA Katyusha -.
Russian reporter and VGTRK journalist Andrey Rudenko said on his Telegram channel: ‘The US embassy stated that terrorist attacks in Moscow are possible in the next two days; The British Foreign Office also issued a similar warning.
‘We perfectly understand who could be the mastermind of the terrorist attacks. And to these bastards, a warning about this seems like blackmail or a banal threat.’
The U.S. Embassy said Thursday that it was “following reports that extremists have imminent plans to attack large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts, and U.S. citizens should be warned to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours.”
The initial warning to American citizens was shared by the British embassy and posted on the Foreign Office website. Russia travel advice page.
The FCDO is currently warning of security incidents “such as drone attacks” in some parts of the country and is advising British citizens to “consider leaving” Russia.
It comes just hours after Russia’s security agency, the FSB, claimed to have foiled an ISIS plot to massacre Jews at a synagogue near the capital.
A large crowd of people gathers on Red Square in Moscow on September 30, 2022.
Footage purports to show agents uncovering a weapons cache while foiling an ISIS plot
Russian independent media Important Stories reported: ‘Diplomats assess the probability of terrorist attacks as imminent, that is, they trust the reliability of this information.
“For comparison, in mid-February 2022, the US embassy assessed the Russian invasion of Ukraine as ‘could be imminent.'”
US Ambassador Lynne M. Tracy’s warning, echoed by British envoy Nigel Casey, was interpreted by Putin’s prominent propagandist Margarita Simonyan, head of the RT media empire, as a warning of “terrorist attacks.”
“The US and British embassies warned about the threat of terrorist attacks on March 8 in Moscow,” he said.
The anti-Western Simonyan urged the embassies: ‘If you have specific information, you should transmit it through the intelligence services.
‘I hope you did. And if not, then this is complicity.”
There were no similar warnings from Russian state agencies.
Pro-Putin Telegram channel Zhukov Z said: “All this sounds like a threat, because all terrorist attacks in Russia are directly or indirectly related to the activities of the CIA and its henchmen.”
Another pro-war channel, Wargonzo, said: ‘The message was published only on the English version of the (US) site the day before.
‘It read ambiguously and many media outlets interpreted it as a warning about the threat of terrorist attacks.
“It’s not really clear who the US embassy is warning about, the patriotic Russians or their defendants: the Ukrainian saboteurs.”
Independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe said: “Events dedicated to International Women’s Day are scheduled in Moscow today.
“Singer SHAMAN will perform at the Crocus City Hall and a big concert will also take place at the Russia exhibition at VDNKh.”
The British FCDO currently advises against all travel to Russia, citing the war in Ukraine and the heightened threat of terrorism.
“It is highly likely that terrorists will attempt to carry out attacks in Russia,” the department warns, suggesting that indiscriminate attacks could target popular tourist sites; seasonal, festive or religious events in public places; areas not controlled by security; or transportation networks.
“The terrorist attacks in Moscow and St. Petersburg caused a large number of victims,” he says.
“Russian aviation has also been targeted. Security forces have thwarted several plots in major Russian cities.
The FCDO also says there is a “high threat of terrorist attack globally affecting the interests of the United Kingdom and British citizens, including by groups and individuals who view the United Kingdom and British citizens as targets” and advises being alert.
For British citizens in Russia requiring consular assistance, it is recommended that you contact their 24-hour helpline +7 495 956 7200 and select the Consular Services for British Citizens option.
At the beginning of the war, estimates of the number of British citizens in Russia varied widely, from 6,400 to more than 22,000.
dr Kevin Riehlemteacher at Brunel Center for Intelligence and Security Studiessaid: ‘The public announcement on 8 March 2024 by the US and UK embassies in Moscow of a planned terrorist operation in Russia is likely to have both a security and counter-propaganda objective.
‘The threat notification was announced publicly, it was not shared government-to-government (at least as far as we know). That shows where the dialogue level is.
“In addition to being a warning of a terrorist threat, the announcement is also likely to send a message to the Russian people that Western governments are not their enemy, contrary to what the Russian government repeats time and time again.”
Kevin lectures on Intelligence and Security Studies and spent more than 30 years working in intelligence and counterintelligence with the Defense Intelligence Agency, US European Command, and the FBI.
He has written dozens of books on Russian intelligence and defectors.
The Federal Security Service reported that during the arrest the terrorists put up armed resistance and were neutralized with return fire.
Dead terrorists were seen lying on the floor of their hideout after FSB agents broke in and foiled the alleged massacre plans.
The US and UK embassies in Moscow have warned that extremists are planning to attack large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts, in the near future.
News of a terror warning came just hours after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to its notorious KGB agency, claimed to have foiled an ISIS plot to massacre Jews at a Moscow synagogue.
It is unclear if the events are related.
According to the FSB, a large cache of weapons and bomb parts was found during an attack on an Islamic State cell in Kaluga, southwest of the capital.
Russian state media reported that militants had been preparing to shoot Jewish worshipers at a synagogue in the capital before security officials stormed the facility and shot them dead.
“While being arrested, the terrorists put up armed resistance to the Russian FSB agents and, as a result, were neutralized by return fire,” Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the security service in a statement.