Terrorist attack in Moscow: Why did Russia ignore American warnings?

“Provocative statements from the West regarding possible attacks inside Russia”

Three days before the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the board of directors of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), whose mission is to defend the country. He told the assembled security leaders that the top priority was to support what he called the “special military operation,” the official term for the invasion of Ukraine.

In addition, he said that Ukraine had turned to what he called “terrorist tactics.” He also spoke directly about “provocative statements” from the West regarding possible attacks inside Russia. In fact, he asserted that the warnings “appear to be clear blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”

This suggests that the lack of trust between the US and Russia meant that Moscow may not have wanted to listen, and instead saw the warnings as part of an attempt to threaten Russia, linked to the conflict in Ukraine.

However, according to the BBC, the nature of the information the US had or shared, or how clear it was, is not yet known.

But if the information shared with Russia about ISIS is reliable and specific, the FSB and Putin could be in trouble for misjudging its seriousness.

In this case, it would clearly be in Moscow's interest to somehow link the attack to Ukraine in order to shift blame and also gain support for Russia's actions on the war front.