Bloodbath in Moscow

USA warned of attack – Putin rejected this

At least 40 people killed in shots fired at a concert in Moscow. The building was ablaze.(Bild: The Associated Press)

In an attack on an event hall in the Moscow region on Friday, gunmen killed at least 40 people, according to the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB. The US embassy in Moscow had recently warned of imminent attacks. 

Speculation about a possible terrorist attack in Moscow had been circulating since March 7. At that time, the US embassy had issued a warning to this effect, which was echoed by the Austrian Foreign Ministry, among others, on March 8.

Two IS terror cells were unearthed - was revenge to follow?
The background to this was the unearthing of two terror cells of the so-called Islamic State, in which several people are said to have been killed, according to the NZZ. The cells are said to have planned attacks on synagogues in Moscow.

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Putin: "Open blackmail"
Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin, however, rejected the warnings as "open blackmail" intended to "intimidate and divide society". He also strongly denounced "provocative statements by a number of official Western structures" about a possible terrorist attack in Russia. "All of this is reminiscent of open blackmail and the intention to spread fear and destabilize our society," he declared to the heads of the FSB, the domestic intelligence service responsible for combating terrorism.

In 2002, Chechen gunmen seized 850 people in a musical theater. On the fourth day of the drama, the domestic secret service stunned the hostage-takers and the hostages with a gas. The terrorists were shot dead. 135 hostages died, most of them due to inadequate medical care.