Russian security services knew about threats from Islamic State, investigation says

Kremlin security services were aware of a threat from Islamic State-K days before the attack on a concert hall near Moscow, according to Russian intelligence documents obtained by a UK-based investigative organization.

According to the London-based Dossier Center, the documents showed that the terrorist group could be involved.

At least 143 people were killed last Friday in Russia's deadliest attack in decades, when assailants stormed an event center with weapons and explosives just before a concert was to be held.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack with statements, photos and a propaganda video filmed by the terrorists.

The Dossier Center is a Russian investigative group backed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled former Russian oil tycoon turned Kremlin critic. Details about Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime have already been revealed, often using documents and leaks from within the Russian government.

“Just days before the terrorist attack, members of the Security Council received a warning that Tajik citizens could be used in terrorist attacks on Russian territory,” said the group's latest report, released on Sunday and sent to the Russian security agency.

“Even before the attack, a source close to the intelligence services told the Dossier Center about this,” he added.

The Kremlin did not respond to the CNN to comment on the report.

Shocking footage of the attack showed how the victims fled for their lives and hid to safety in horror, with the scene turned into an inferno.

Four suspects, who are from the Central Asian Republic of Tajikistan but worked in Russia on temporary or expired visas, appeared in court earlier this week facing terrorism charges, showing visible signs of torture. Three pleaded guilty, according to Russian media.

Despite relations between Washington and Moscow being shaken, the United States warned Russia that Islamic State militants were planning to carry out an attack in the country.

In early March, the American embassy warned of a growing threat of terrorist attacks on Russia, with National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson saying that the US had shared this information with Russian authorities under the policy of “ duty to warn”.

But in a speech just days before the attack, Putin dismissed the American warnings as “provocative,” saying “these actions resemble direct blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”

Putin, who recently won an election and secured another term, has repeatedly suggested, without evidence, that Ukraine helped orchestrate the attack. Ukraine has repeatedly denied having any links to the raid.

Former Russian deputy Ilya Ponomarev, an exiled critic of the Kremlin, said the latest evidence poses serious questions for the Russian leadership and its security forces.

“We see very clearly that Vladimir Putin could have reacted to multiple warnings,” he told Out Front's Erin Burnett CNN .

Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022.

The following year, German police arrested several people from Tajikistan accused of planning an attack on Cologne Cathedral, according to the Dossier Center. Suspected members of the terrorist group were also arrested in Kyrgyzstan, accused of planning an attack on an Orthodox church.

According to the Dossier Center, Russian police were monitoring all of these reports and “considered the risk” to Russia.