EDITORIAL: Russia under attack

The attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow has to be roundly condemned by peace-loving and democracy-orientated people. However, coming as it does days after Vladimir Putin’s “landslide victory” in this month’s election, it raises troubling questions. 

Islamic State, the terrorist group, has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack which claimed more than 150 lives. Russia’s president has not bought this. Instead, he has accused Ukraine, which he illegally invaded two years ago, of being involved in the attack.

The Islamic State narrative is inconvenient to the Kremlin. It helps prop up one that Russia’s Muslim community is being ill-treated and is joining the growing number of Russians opposed to the war against Ukraine.

The West’s intelligence services warned of an attack. That Putin’s security services could not foresee it shows worrying signs of vulnerability for Russia’s strongman.

This is even more concerning given that it comes just months after last year’s failed mutiny by the Wagner Group, Russia’s mercenary forces. Months after an uneasy truce, Yevgeny Prigozhin, its leader, died in a mysterious plane crash.

The West and Putin’s allies in the Global South have to worry about two things: first, the attack should not be used as an excuse for him to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine; and second, it should not be used for more domestic repression. Both scenarios have to be stopped.