March 29, 2024

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims to have prevented “a terrorist attack in a crowded place” in Stavropol Krai in southern Russia, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS wrote on March 29.

The FSB claimed to have detained three citizens of an unnamed Central Asian country who allegedly planned to cause an explosion.

“Components of an improvised explosive device, chemicals, and munitions were seized from the detainees at their place of residence,” TASS said, citing the FSB’s statement.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims. The FSB’s announcement comes a week after several gunmen opened fire at a concert hall in Krasnogorsk outside Moscow, killing at least 144 people.

Though the Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack shortly thereafter, the Kremlin is attempting to pin the blame on Ukraine. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed on March 23 that the suspects planned to flee to Ukraine without providing any evidence.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the allegation of Ukrainian involvement “predictable” and slammed Moscow for trying “to blame everything on someone else.” The White House said there was no indication that Kyiv was behind the shooting.

Russia’s security services detained 11 people in connection with the attack on March 23 and a few others in the following days.

Ahead of the attack, the U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a warning on March 7 that “extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow” and urged American citizens to stay away from crowded areas and venues over the next 48 hours.

The U.K., Canada, Germany, and several other countries published similar statements soon after.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of FSB, claimed that U.S. warnings were only “general.”

https://kyivindependent.com/media-fsb-terrorist-attack