More than two weeks before terrorists staged a bloody attack in the suburbs of Moscow, the U.S. government told Russian officials that Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue, was a potential target. Washington Post reports, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The media outlet’s sources claim that Washington gave Moscow information about the impending attack a day before the U.S. Embassy in Russia published a message about a possible threat of a terrorist attack in the capital. The warning was posted on the embassy’s website on the night of March 8. Among other things, it stated that a terrorist attack could take place during a concert.
According to one of the sources, the United States also warned the Russian authorities about a possible attack on a synagogue in Moscow. On March 7, the Russian Federal Security Service reported that a terrorist attack on a Moscow synagogue prepared by militants of Wilayat Khorasan cell of the Islamic State had been prevented.
- The terrorist attack was committed in Crocus City Hall on March 22. Thousands of people came to the concert of a music band. Four unknown men in camouflage, without masks, entered the building and began shooting people at point-blank range. After that they set fire to the hall. As a result of the terrorist attack, 144 people were killed and 551 more were injured. Ten suspects were arrested within the criminal case.
- On March 26, Director of the Russian Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov confirmed that Russia had received information from the United States about the preparation of the terrorist attack, but the information was «general in nature». On April 2, Sergei Naryshkin, director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, also said that the information provided by the United States was too general and did not make it possible to identify all the participants of the terrorist attack at Crocus, Kommersant noted.
