Calling for revenge. The Russians blame Ukrainians for the terror in Moscow, the hunt for Tajiks has begun

144 people died in the attack and Russian police arrested several citizens of Tajikistan. The Islamic State movement claimed terror on the social network, but many Russians do not believe it. Only 27 percent of survey respondents said it was an act of Islamists. Six percent of those polled are of the opinion that the attack was planned by the so-called West, by which Russia means NATO, Great Britain and the United States.

In his speeches, Putin twice linked the attackers to Ukraine. Among other things, he said that the fleeing terrorists were heading for Ukraine and had an agreement with the Ukrainian army to create a corridor through which they could penetrate into the neighboring country. The head of the Kremlin literally used the term “window” to cross state borders. According to him, Russia will find out who is behind the terror and who ordered it.

The head of the Russian Federal Security Council Nikolai Patrushev also supported the “Ukrainian line” this Wednesday. He stated that the Ukrainian embassy in Tajikistan is recruiting local men. The head of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, in turn claims that the connection with Ukraine emerged from the interrogations of the detainees.

Four men, whom the FSB identified as terrorists from March 22, were detained by the police near Bryansk. Not far from where the borders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine meet. The group fled in a car.

In an interview with Meduza.io, Russian independent political scientist Kirill Shamiev said that Moscow is cynically using the tragedy to support the war against Ukraine, which it launched in the neighboring country more than two years ago. “The Kremlin is trying with all its might to create such an image of this event that will direct all negative energy against Ukrainians. This is a very cynical policy, they are turning the clear failures of the Russian intelligence services against Ukraine and they are succeeding. At least in the pro-war Telegram channels and on Russian social I have never seen such hatred and aggression on the networks,” Šamiev described.

According to him, users of the Telegram social network, who support the war against Kiev and have a large number of followers on the social network, started blaming Ukraine just a few minutes after the attack. Shamiev calls these people Z-patriots after the letter Z, which symbolizes Russian aggression. Moscow then followed up on this version, apparently knowing that it was advantageous.

The country’s defense ministry announced on Wednesday that interest in joining the army and fighting in Ukraine had surged among Russian men after the attack on the concert hall. Within two weeks of the massacre, 16,000 people signed up at the headquarters of the military administration. “Over the past week and a half, military recruitment sites have seen a significant increase in the number of those who want to sign a contract to participate in a special military operation. Every day, up to 1,700 people come to army offices across the country to sign up for military service,” the state press quoted TASS agency source from the ministry. The reliability of this information cannot be independently verified.

In the meantime, Russian media and social networks report on the violence that Tajiks and other citizens of Central Asian republics living in Russia are subjected to after the attack. Assaults are reported on the street, some customers refuse to ride a taxi driven by a driver of one of these nationalities. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have already urged their citizens not to travel to Russia unless necessary. Many people from Tajikistan or Uzbekistan work in Russia, for example, on construction sites.

Video: Footage that is supposed to prove that Putin “handled” the attack in Moscow from the first moments (March 25, 2024)