SHANGHAI, March 25. The possibility of the US restoring cooperation with the terrorist organization Islamic State (banned in Russia) in order to undermine social stability in Russia after the elections cannot be ruled out, Sun Qi, the executive director of the Center for Russia and Central Asia Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences has told TASS.

"On the one hand, although the Islamic State has rather bad relations with the United States, it cannot be ruled out that the US will cooperate with the IS again for purely practical reasons to try to undermine social stability in Russia after Vladimir Putin’s re-election. On the other hand, even if it the terrorist attack in the Moscow Region was not a US-masterminded act, it does not mean that there was no involvement of other Western forces. The US intelligence information accurately reflected what happened," the expert said, pointing out that the US embassy in Moscow had issued a warning about the terrorist threat as early as March 7, which indicates that the US knew the details in advance.

Earlier, many blamed the March 22 terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow on the IS. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, 137 people are known to have been killed and the number of fatalities may increase. According to the Moscow Region’s Health Ministry, 182 people were injured.

Eleven people involved in the terrorist attack were detained, including all four direct perpetrators, who tried to flee towards the border with Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that, according to preliminary data, the Ukrainian side was keeping open a loophole the perpetrators would use to cross the border. He promised that all those behind the attack at Crocus City Hall would be identified and punished. He declared March 24 a day of national mourning.