How Putin can turn the carnage into the concert venue in Moscow in his favor

One of Russia’s most deadly attacks in the last 20 years occurred on Friday night (22.03.2024) in , when gunmen invaded Crocus City Hall concert hall, killing 139 people and injuring hundreds of others by being in a distressing position. The climate in Russia is heavy with Vladimir Putin, a few days after his election for 5th term in the country’s presidency, facing relentless questions about security conditions with him engaging in a “blame game” with Kiev about who is behind bloodshed. It brought memories of other similar terrorist attacks in the country and its analysis shows how Putin managed to turn all these tragedies to his advantage, a tactic he is expected to follow this time. From the dark bombings in apartments to the Beslan massacre, the leader of Russia proves that he never leaves a chance to lose… Since Putin rose to the upper tiers of power in 1998, first as head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), one of the successors of the KGB of the Soviet Union, and later as Prime Minister of Russia and eventually president, the country has suffered about 15 terrorist attacks, notes the report. Although few were as deadly as last week’s massacre at Crocus City Hall music center on the outskirts of Moscow, almost all were used by Putin to strengthen his authority. After Friday’s massacre, although a branch of the jihadist organization Islamic State took responsibility, Putin seized the opportunity to blame Ukraine (although he did not present any evidence). Kiev – which Putin has been trying to conquer since a full-scale invasion began in February 2022 – is just the Kremlin’s last convenient scapegoat. They follow those cases where Putin used a violent attack on Russia to establish or strengthen his authority. 1999 – Bomb attacks on Russian apartments When: September 4 – September 16, 1999 What happened? In September 1999, when Putin was still Prime Minister, there was a series of explosions in many cities of Russia. The total number of deaths reached 307. While Moscow officially blamed the Chechen separatists, some assumed it was an operation orchestrated by Russian security officials. Particularly suspicious was an incident in September 1999 in Ryazan, nearly 200 km from Moscow. Resident apartment building noticed unknown persons, stopping with a car with Russian signs before placing bags in the building’s basement. Police authorities who reached the point found that the bags contained a substance and a timer. Media reports argued that the bags contained exogens, an explosive similar to that used in other bombings. Many saw it as proof that Russia’s security services were behind the bombings and that they were to organize another one. Nikolai Patrousev, then head of FSB and now Putin’s chief security consultant, denied these allegations, saying it was a drill. How Putin used the incident to his advantage: The 1999 bombings launched Russia’s then Prime Minister Putin at the top of power. After blaming the Chechen rebels, Moscow bombed Chechnya from September 14, starting a second bloody war with the sectarian region. Putin’s “strong leader” campaign for Chechnya significantly increased his popularity, leading to his election as president on 26 March 2000. Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer, who wrote a book arguing that the attacks were staged and that Riazan was a “FSB fiasco”, was later killed in London by two former FSB agents, according to a British investigation. The siege of Dubrovnik Theatre When: October 23-26, 2002 What happened: During the performance of the project “Nord Ost” at the Dubrofka Theatre, Moscow, terrorists wearing suicide zones invaded and took the spectators hostage. After multilateral negotiations, Russian special forces used sleeping gas during the raid on the building, killing all terrorists. However, some hostages died after gas was inhaled, due to the lack of adequate medical assistance. The official account of the dead is still in question, with figures ranging from 130 to 174 according to independent NGOs. How Putin used the tragedy to his advantage: Despite extensive criticism of prosecution tactics, Putin supported his security services to the fullest. “The gas was harmless and could not cause harm to people. It is easy to criticize security services or medical staff, but that is not fair,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post in 2003. Journalists who spoke critically of the incident were targeted by the Moscow regime, one of the first examples of aggressive censorship that would become common practice many years later. The massacre in Beslan When: September 1-3, 2004 What happened? Terrorists motivated by Chechnya’s autonomy invaded a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, in the Caucasus area, taking hostages over 1,200 children, parents and teachers during the school year’s opening ceremony. The operation of Russian special services to free hostages resulted in 334 dead, with most dying of explosives used by Russian troops to violate the school. How Putin turned the bloodshed to his advantage: After the tragedy, the Russian state, including Putin, spread the false account that terrorists had made no request, while they had in fact demanded that Russian forces leave Chechnya and recognise its independence. Dmitry Peskov, then one of Putin’s press secretarys and now the Kremlin’s top representative, was the key to managing the situation’s coverage. Later, Putin exploited the massacre in Beslan to justify legislative changes that abolished the election of governors in all 89 Russian regions. Moscow subway bombings When: 2010 What happened? Two Chechen suicide bombers detonated explosives at two central Moscow subway stations, killing 39 people and injuring more than 100. How Putin used it to his advantage: Then President Dmitry Medvedev, who briefly held his position as head, while Putin was pulling the strings as Prime Minister, increased security measures in public transport throughout Russia. This led to the CCTV camera test with facial recognition systems in the Moscow subway system. More than a decade later, Russia has installed about 500,000 CCTV cameras with facial recognition technology at national level. The system is often used to identify and arrest activists. St Petersburg subway bombing When: April 2017 What happened? A suicide bomber from a militant Islamist group in Russia detonated a bomb on a train wagon between two St. Petersburg subway stations, killing 16 people. At that time, the Islamic State was in conflict with Russia, with Putin providing deadly aid to the authoritarian Syrian Bashar al-Assad, who was fighting rebel groups. How Putin used it to his advantage: The investigation showed that terrorists used the Telegram message exchange app for communication, citing its relative security. The Russian government increased pressure on Telegram administration, leading to the full exclusion of implementation in 2018. Telegram agreed to share user information with law enforcement authorities that same year. Since then, Telegram administration has appeared more… compatible with the Russian state. In 2021 he blocked the application “Smart Vote” of opposition leader Alexei Navalni ahead of elections in the State Duma, the lower parliament of the Russian parliament. Putin’s next steps after the Crocus City massacre Given Putin’s history of using the atrocities committed within Russia to justify violent and often undemocratic reactions, the response to this latest attack is expected to be harsh. The first thing Putin can do is implement some planned but expected unpopular measures, Sergei Davidis, head of the Civil Prisoner Support Program at the Memorial Human Rights Center, told Politico. One typical example is the abolition of the elections of governments after the siege of Beslan, a clearly irrelevant event that was nevertheless used as a pretext for the planned measure. However, the war in Ukraine is already an extraordinary situation that has been used to tighten up restrictions, including full censorship. It is possible that the death penalty would return to Russia, “but this would open Pandora’s box which might be feared,” Davidis added. But which, as he explains, leads to a formal – for the Russian authorities reaction – the imposition of more restrictions. These could include tightening penalties, extending the range of offences, criminalizing certain activities or releasing the hands of law enforcement authorities when dealing with terrorism suspects. It is recalled that in the days after the attack on the concert hall, four suspects appeared in court with bruised and swollen faces, suggesting that they had been beaten, while a video posted on Telegram appears to show one of the suspects with a severed part of his ear. Another image on Telegram allegedly shows a second suspect that The Kremlin refused to comment on whether suspects were tortured. The response of the authorities to the latest massacre shows a new trend: Law enforcement authorities in Russia can abuse brutal suspects and pride themselves on it. “If you can kill thousands of people with bombs, you don’t have to worry about whether someone’s ear will be cut or electrocuted,” Davidis commented. Photo source: Reuters