MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) did receive certain information from the United States about the threat of a possible terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, but it lacked any specifics, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin told reporters.
"The FSB had received certain information from US intelligence services that, unfortunately, such [an attack] was possible. But, as our Russian counterparts have said, that information was very vague and it did not allow us to identify those behind the deadly crime," Naryshkin said following a joint meeting of the boards of the SVR and State Security Committee of Belarus.
On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just outside the Moscow city limits. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, more than 140 people have died, and the death toll may rise.
Eleven suspects in the attack have been apprehended, including all four gunmen, who were detained in the Bryansk Region, southwest of Moscow, as they were attempting to seek refuge by crossing the nearby Ukrainian border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address, citing preliminary information, that the Ukrainian side had prepared "a window" in the border especially for the terrorists to cross undetected. He promised to identify and punish all those who were behind the attack on Crocus City Hall. On March 24, Russia declared its first nationwide mourning since 2018.
CNN reported earlier, citing sources, that US intelligence services had tipped off Russia that the Islamic State terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) was plotting terrorist attacks in Russia. Washington had been receiving such intelligence since November, but it’s not clear if this prompted the US embassy in Moscow to issue the March 7 warning, the TV channel said.