Russia’s opposition blasts Putin’s broken security promises after Moscow concert hall attack

Questions over how Russian security system was unable to thwart deadliest attack in 2 decades even as Western counterparts issued warnings 2 weeks ago

‘Catastrophic incompetence of our security services’ is striking, said Ivan Zhdanov, former head of Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation

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Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle in memory of the victims of Friday’s Crocus City Hall attack, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Sunday. Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel / Pool via Reuters

Published: 4:25am, 25 Mar 2024Updated: 8:11am, 25 Mar 2024

Russia’s opposition has slammed Vladimir Putin’s broken security promise in the wake of the Moscow concert hall attack, saying the country’s intelligence agencies were too focused on hunting Kremlin critics instead of actual threats.

Questions have swirled over how the country’s powerful security apparatus was unable to thwart the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades – even as Western counterparts issued public and private warnings just two weeks prior.

“What is striking is the catastrophic incompetence of our security services,” said Ivan Zhdanov, the former head of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation.

People in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine on Sunday light candles during a vigil in memory of the victims of Friday’s shooting at Crocus City Hall, Moscow. Photo: Reuters

For Putin, a former Soviet spy and one-time head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) – the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB – accusations of an intelligence failure could sting.

He came to power on the final day of 1999 promising Russia security as rebel insurgents launched a spate of attacks amid war in Chechnya.

Putin’s first years as president saw militants storm a Moscow theatre, taking more than 900 people hostage, and the Beslan school siege – in which more than 300 people, mostly children, were killed.

After that, he chipped away at civil liberties and launched an escalating crackdown against his opponents, which he justified by the need to stamp out the terrorist threat.