Putin Vows Behind Moscow Attack, ‘Ignore’ ISIS Until Targets US

#Putin #Vows #Moscow #Attack #Ignore #ISIS #Targets

International

Thea Fathanah Arbar, CNBC Indonesia

News

Wednesday, 03/04/2024 07:01 WIB

Photo: Russian presidential candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin speaks after polling stations close, in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2024. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – President Vladimir Putin promised to track down the mastermind behind the concert hall attack in Moscow that left 144 people dead on March 22. He also urged law enforcement agencies to tighten security at future mass gatherings.

Putin conveyed this at a meeting with high-ranking Interior Ministry officials who oversee the country’s police on Tuesday (2/4/2024).

Putin said it was important to determine “not only the perpetrators of this outrage but all the links in the chain and the beneficiaries.”

He added, “Those who use this weapon against Russia should realize that this is a double-edged weapon,” he added, threatening retaliation, as quoted Associated Press.

Putin said that the masterminds of the concert hall raid were trying to “sow discord and panic, discord and hatred in our country in order to divide Russia from within,” and he added that “we must not allow them to do that.”

“It is not permissible to use this tragic event to provoke ethnic tensions, xenophobia and Islamophobia,” he said.

Putin has repeatedly sought to link the March 22 killings to Ukraine and Western countries despite claims of responsibility from the Islamic State group and strong denials from Kyiv.

Putin also said authorities were investigating the performance of law enforcement structures and other agencies in the concert hall attack. He urged law enforcement agencies to strengthen security at public gatherings.

“We have paid a very heavy price, and analysis of the situation must be objective and professional,” he said.

“This is important to ensure security and order at mass gatherings, sports facilities, transportation, trade and recreation centers, schools, hospitals, universities, theaters, and so on to a new level. All these facilities must be under constant control. continuously.”

Putin again charged that Moscow’s foreign enemies, including the United States, aim to “destroy what is left of Russia’s history, to destroy the core of the country” in order to win control of the country’s vast resources.

“Some of them are trying to maintain their hegemony in today’s rapidly changing world at our expense,” he said. “Some seem to see our country as the weak link. They are wrong.”

Russian security agencies have so far detained four suspects, all Tajik nationals, and seven other alleged accomplices.

The attacks have fueled anti-migrant sentiment and calls from Russian hardliners to limit immigration, despite the fact that Russia’s economy relies heavily on these workers, most of whom come from former Soviet Union countries in Central Asia, including Tajikistan.

Russian media reported that authorities had strengthened controls on migrants following the attack.

Putin himself has urged the Interior Ministry to tighten controls on illegal migration and close loopholes in procedures that allow people with criminal pasts to obtain work permits and even Russian citizenship.

(luc/luc)