The terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow was committed by ISIS. Such a conclusion was reached by expert Peter Neumann, a German professor at King’s College in London, and investigative journalist Hristo Grozev from The Insider, a former Bellingcat employee, IPN informs, with reference to Report, a website in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.
According to Neumann, there are several factors that point to ISIS: the message by which it assumes responsibility for what it did; the complexity of the attack according to the ISIS modus-operandi; the warnings from the U.S. about the imminence of the attack, but also the fact that “ISIS-K” locates its activity in the post-Soviet space:
“We know the Russian state’s reply that the information provided by the American side is not precise enough... However, arrests of ISIS members were made in Russia. It means that the FSB knew who to arrest and they took action.”
The source quoted Hristo Grozev as saying that the result of the official investigation should be waited for because it could confirm the ISIS version, and then it means that it was so. “However, we, those from The Insider and Spiegel, note that a year ago the GRU brought young people from Afghanistan and trains them. It remains to be found out whether the terrorist attack has any tie with Russia. But if it turns out to have an Afghan trace, most likely, then we need to see why ISIS-K decided to attack Russia right now.”
The expert noted that if the official version does not point to ISIS, but to the Russian Volunteer Corps or “Ukrainian traces”, then things get much complicated: “The FSB becomes much more motivated to resort to inventions than in the case of the Afghan version. One of the reasons, which we expect, is to create conditions for general mobilization. Now we have to see who they decide to attribute the deed to, then we will look at the evidence.”
It should be noted, the subject of Crocus becomes topical in Azerbaijan against the background that the Russian law enforcement agencies have no way to argue that Ukraine has anything to do with what happened in the Moscow suburb and are “tightening the screw” with regard to the migrants, especially of Muslim origin. The source quoted Shamil Tagiyev, president of the Azerbaijani community in Moscow, as saying that “the Azerbaijani community in Moscow received calls with threats from unknown persons,” calling on the compatriots to be vigilant.
“Interethnic and religious hatred is actively intensified on social media by the radical nationalist public, where threats are made against national minorities in the Russian Federation and calls for violent actions are heard,” said the Azerbaijani from Moscow. More than 400 migrants are to be deported from St. Petersburg alone.
The pressure on the Azerbaijani community in Russia has already begun. “It is possible that in the future it will intensify even more and turn into real attacks. Of course, this could affect the current relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. At least, questions will arise,” said the leader of the Azerbaijanis in Moscow.
