CIA warning to Russia’s FSB over planned terrorist attack in Moscow, Digi Mart USA News: The Kremlin and the White House are showing signs of further cooperation on security issues, according to a publisher report. The Kremlin’s charm offensive with the White House is in full swing, evident in its willingness to go along with Melania Trump’s initiative for a temporary humanitarian ceasefire in the town of Oleshky.
In further signs of ties between the United States and Russia, the CIA on Saturday passed a warning to Moscow that appears to have thwarted a planned terrorist attack in the city. The agency passed the warning to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) under its “duty to warn” policy, which requires it to raise alerts when it has specific, credible information about an impending attack, even to an unfriendly nation.
The US Embassy in Moscow then warned its citizens still resident there about a “credible threat” of a terrorist attack “with the risk of mass casualties” on the grounds of the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve. The historic park, about half the size of Richmond Park, includes palaces, ponds and pavilions and is often used for musical and theatrical performances.
It was hurriedly evacuated and police sniffer dogs and metal detector teams were deployed to locate any potential explosive devices.
Finding nothing, the authorities reopened the park on Sunday. The warning may be a fruit of a visit to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe in August and a mooted one by his FBI counterpart later this month.
Although rumours abounded that Ratcliffe was there to warn Moscow against any escalation, both the Kremlin and the White House presented it instead as a routine contact to further cooperation.
Moscow could benefit from such assistance. Concerns within the Russian security community reportedly hold that the need to address Ukrainian subversion, sabotage and subversion has taken focus away from other forms of terrorism.
Added to this is the spread of military weapons from the war, which has already led to rising gun crime rates, a potential threat that could seriously undermine Vladimir Putin’s image as the “only man who can guarantee Russia’s security.”
The alleged would-be Tsaritsyno attacker has been linked to a neo-Nazi movement, and there have been other recent incidents from the far right. In February, another teenage neo-Nazi stabbed seven foreign students at the Bashkir State Medical University while painting a swastika with blood.
However, the greater threat remains jihadist extremists, either from the restive Russian North Caucasus or Central Asia.
This time, the authorities responded differently. The CIA had directed them towards videos the alleged terrorist had posted on TikTok, which showed him in a military-style outfit and balaclava, brandishing what looked like an assault rifle, along with pictures taken at Tsaritsyno captioned “I found a place.” On Sunday, a team of FSB commandos arrested a teenager in a Moscow suburb, accusing him of recording the videos.
So far, the Kremlin has avoided the kind of propaganda seen after the Crocus City Hall attack, and the FSB has acknowledged the US role and thanked it for the warning. Kirill Dmitriev, a key figure in current negotiations, hailed the CIA for acting “in a spirit of good faith.” The relationship between Russia and the US under Donald Trump is growing stronger once more, leaving Ukraine to wonder whether it can rely on America for anything.
