After one of the worst terrorist attacks in Russian history with 137 dead and 152 injured, the federal government suspects Islamists were behind the crime and warns of dangers in Germany too. It can be “assumed that the terrorist group ‘Islamic State Khorosan Province’ is responsible for the murderous terrorist attack near Moscow,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser South German newspaper.
Since the offshoot of the terrorist militia IS is also active in Germany, security authorities are also warning of attacks here. “The danger from Islamist terrorism remains acute,” said Faeser. “The ‘ISPK’ is currently the biggest Islamist threat in Germany.” It was only on Tuesday that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Gera had two suspected Islamists from the militia arrested. They are said to have planned an attack on the Swedish parliament. “This attack, like the recent bomb attack in the Iranian city of Kerman, shows how seriously the global threat posed by Islamist terror should be taken,” continued Faeser.
At the Crocus City Hall event center near Moscow, assassins randomly shot at visitors on Friday evening. There were also explosions in the building and a major fire. Shortly after the crime, a dispute about the background to the crime escalated at an international level. An offshoot of the IS terrorist militia had already claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday night. Western secret services classified the confession message as genuine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, suggested a Ukrainian lead behind the attack. The head of the Russian state media RT, Margarita Simonyan, also did not believe that the “Islamic State” was responsible for the attack. The perpetrators were chosen in such a way “that a stupid international community could be convinced that it was IS,” said Simonyan, who is considered a Putin confidant.
Arrested while on the run
In Moscow on Sunday, the public waited for an arrest warrant against the four suspected perpetrators. Images from the state news agency Tass showed the perpetrators being handed over to the investigative committee in Moscow blindfolded and in a crouched position. According to reports, all four come from Tajikistan, although this has not yet been officially confirmed. According to Russian reports, they were arrested on Saturday while fleeing in the Bryansk region. The region borders Ukraine. .
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Putin’s attempts to blame Ukraine for the serious attack. “Of course, after what happened in Moscow yesterday, Putin and the other bastards are just trying to shift the blame to someone else,” he said in a video address. After the events in the concert hall, “that absolute nobody Putin” remained silent for a day instead of taking care of his own citizens. During this time, Putin thought about “how he can bring this to Ukraine.”
The horror is great
Numerous heads of state and governments were horrified by the attack over the weekend. Pope Francis also condemned the “inhumane acts.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Interior Minister Faeser expressed their condolences to the families of the victims. At the same time, Faeser warned in the SZ interview of the growing dangers posed by Russia’s hybrid warfare. “We are actually experiencing a new dimension of threats from Russian aggression here,” said the SPD politician. “We see attempts to exert influence through lies and through massive disinformation. But espionage is also at least as active.” The Interior Minister also accused the Kremlin of deliberately promoting refugee movements to Western Europe. “Russia also wants to destabilize the West with migration,” she said. “People are being brutally exploited.” Finland is currently experiencing this at its own border.
Nancy Faeser announced further measures against disinformation campaigns in Europe. “It is particularly important to protect the elections,” she said. “We must ensure that there are no hacker attacks on election authorities or on the transmission of election results.” A new early detection unit against false news is being set up in Germany, which will use artificial intelligence to detect manipulative news “before it becomes a big wave and floods the internet.” Faeser rejected plans by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) to cut the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s 2025 budget in view of the threat. This government has so far not skimped on internal security, she said. “And it has to stay that way.”