Friday’s tragedy in Moscow dealt a serious blow to Vladimir Putin, dispelling the aura of trust that the Kremlin leader had surrounded himself with, and destroying the promise of security for Russians, writes the international press.

Less than a week ago, Putin claimed the fifth-longest presidential term in Russian history, using a tightly controlled regime to show Russians and the world that he is firmly in control.

However, there was a blow on Friday. Its security mechanism could not prevent the worst terrorist attack on Russian soil in the last 10 years.

133 people were killed after several attackers entered a concert hall in Moscow, shooting people who were attending a performance. According to the latest data, another 154 people were injured.

More than 19 hours for a reaction

It took Vladimir Putin 19 hours to come up with a reaction. Russian TV presenters prepared three times a night, but did not make it to the performance. “There was a signal about the transmission of (Vladimir Putin’s) statement three times, and the transmission was canceled three times,” the TV broadcasters told Insider.

When he finally emerged, Putin suggested that Ukraine was behind the massacre, without mentioning ISIS, which had already claimed responsibility for the attack. It raises a big question mark as to why the Kremlin leader ignored the US warning about a possible terrorist attack in Moscow.

The US Embassy in Russia even issued a security alert earlier this month, warning of a potential terrorist attack in Moscow and urging people to avoid crowds, monitor local media and be aware of their surroundings.

However, Vladimir Putin reacted harshly to these warnings. As reported by TASS, on Tuesday, March 19, three days before the terrorist attack, the Russian president said that the purpose of “the latest provocative statements by some Western official structures regarding the possibility of terrorist attacks in Russia” is to harm Russian society.

“All this looks like pure blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society,” Putin said, according to state media.

Instead of protecting society from violent terrorists, critics cited by the New York Times say Putin has sent his security services to hunt down dissidents, journalists and anyone seen as a threat to the Kremlin’s definition of “traditional values.”

Moreover, Vladimir Putin’s people are preparing to re-introduce the death penalty for “terrorists”. This category also includes Russian opponents, Ukrainian leaders, or the LGBT movement.

“In a country where counter-terrorism forces hunt down online commentators, terrorists will always feel free,” Ruslan Leviev, an exiled Russian military analyst, wrote on Saturday. in the post in social networks.

Russian political scientist Oleksandr Kinev also believes that many Russians are now in “shock” because “establishing order has always been Vladimir Putin’s calling card.”

This is not the promised stability and security

But what happened in Moscow at the end of the week is not the stability and security for which so many Russians voted for President Putin, CNN also commented.

For years, the strong Kremlin leader was presented as a leader capable of guaranteeing order in the country, but today Russia looks more uncertain and unstable than at any time during Putin’s 24 years in power.

The war in Ukraine, which has been going on for the third year, has cost the Russians dearly. The military does not release casualty figures, but the US estimates that more than 300,000 Russians have been killed or wounded on the Ukrainian front.

Prigozhin’s rebellion, which became a shocking and unprecedented challenge to the authority of the Kremlin, was not forgotten either. The death of mercenary commander Wagner in a mysterious plane crash seemed to end this episode of discontent. As well as the sudden death of one of the fiercest critics of Alexei Navalny before the elections.

But now the focus is on an apparent resurgence of large-scale jihadist terrorist attacks in Russia, unrelated to the war in Ukraine or domestic opposition to the Kremlin. For the leader who promised the Russians security and stability, this is a heavy blow, concludes CNN.

Sources: New York Times, CNN, Insider, TASS