Kremlin Uses Terror As Propaganda, U.S. Insists, And Reveals New Details About Its Warnings Prior To Moscow Concert Attack

On March the 7th, at 11:15 in the morning, Moscow time, following normal procedures and through established channels that have been employed many times previously, the United States government passed a warning in writing to Russian security services, the White House told reporters on Thursday describing how Washington, in advance of the March 22nd attack, provided "clear, detailed information to Russian authorities regarding the terrorist threat against large gatherings and concerts in Moscow," as National Security Council's John Kirby put it.

"In addition, we released a public advisory on the 8th of March, the next day, warning American citizens to avoid large gatherings and concerts in Moscow," Kirby recalled.

He went on to add, "Now, while our embassy’s public advisory may have deterred the attackers from attacking on the 8th of March, our warning to the Russian government and the general public accurately identified the terrorist threat posed to concerts in Moscow. ISIS bears full responsibility for this attack."

Kirby's comments come as Russian officials have attempted to blame Ukraine for a terrorist attack. Despite that the terrorist group ISIS-K has taken responsibility, and four Tajik nationals have been arrested in connection to the attack, the Kremlin officials have attempted to shift the blame to "the West"  as a way of further legitimizing their military offensives in Ukraine.

Kirby told reporters that Russian efforts to “deflect blame onto Ukraine, the United States, and everyone else who suits their political narratives” about the Moscow terror attack as “nonsense” and “propaganda.”

And then, he went on to conclude:  "It reminds me of something my uncle used to say.  He had a small farm and raised a few cattle in a place near Ocala, Florida. He used to say that the best manure salesmen often carried their samples in their mouths.  Russian officials seem to be pretty good manure salesmen."

Both the White House and the State Department made it clear on Thursday that they had time to understand why the Russians didn’t seem to have acted on the knowledge they had been provided prior to the terror attack.

"Obviously, [they] didn’t prevent the terrorist attack, but I can’t speak to any actions..." State Department's Spokesperson Matthew Miller told TURAN's Washington correspondent during daily briefing.

It also become clear that this wasn't the first time the U.S. has alarmed Moscow regarding potential terror threat since last fall.  "This warning [in early March] was one of many that the United States government has passed to Russia since September 2023 about various threats, Kirby said.

When asked by TURAN whether previous warnings were also about potential ISIS threat, and if the Biden administration thought the Russians had acted on previous knowledge, Miller refrained from providing further details.  "I think you’re going to be disappointed in my answer, because unfortunately I’m not able to provide further information. As usual, when it comes to information that we are able to declassify and make public, there is a limit of what we can say to protect sources and methods, and that’s very much the case here," he said.

As for Moscow's latest attempts to link the March 22 attack to Ukraine, Miller said: "I think the Russian Government is putting forward propaganda and disinformation. I think that it's been very clear that they are trying to use this terrorist attack – this tragic incident, where we saw, unfortunately, Russian citizens killed – to justify their aggression in Ukraine.  And if underlying facts don’t actually matter, they’re going to make up supposed facts to back up what they want to do.  That’s what they’ve done really since the outset of this war, and sadly that’s what they’re doing here."