Russia Knew About Terror Attack Preparations at Crocus Since February 15, Says Ukraine's Military Intelligence Chief

Russian intelligence agencies were aware in advance of the impending terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate.

“On February 15, 2024, Russia was aware of the preparatory work. I will add that this information was passed on from the intelligence agency of the group in Syria. From there, it went to Moscow, so let them not tell fairytales that all of this happened out of nowhere,” Budanov stated while speaking at the Third International Forum on Strategic Communications.

According to the head of intelligence, the Kremlin was cognizant of where and through which two countries the militants would arrive in Russia. “Why did they allow this to happen? There are several options. The first, as per their custom, is a fight between ‘towers’ to remove several officials. The other option is that they underestimated what would happen. They thought it would be more local and wanted to blame Ukraine for everything,” Budanov noted.

Speaking about the “Ukrainian trace” that the Kremlin is seeking in the terrorism incident, the military intelligence chief pointed out that Russian authorities have changed their narratives regarding the incident at Crocus three times already. “There were explanations from Patrushev and Bortnikov, who personally blamed me, claiming that Ukraine was behind all this. This is nonsense. By the way, if we touch upon this painful issue, I fundamentally do not endorse terrorist acts against civilians,” Budanov emphasized.