The Kremlin has not yet developed a formulaic line on how to discuss the attack.

The ruler of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and other high-ranking officials of the aggressor country have expressed an inconsistent position regarding the narrative that Ukraine is allegedly behind the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall shopping center. According to analysts, this indicates that the Kremlin has not developed a template line for discussing the incident. This is due to the shock that the Russian elite experienced after its consequences.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian politicians are trying to maintain a consistent rhetorical line regarding the attack on the shopping center because they have not fully understood how to reconcile their information operations with the reality of intelligence and law enforcement failures.

It is noted that Putin and his officials have not fully rallied around the fake narrative about Ukraine’s participation in the terrorist attack, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility.

“On March 23, in his address after the terrorist attack, the dictator directly stated that the attackers were connected with Ukraine. However, during a speech at the board of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation on March 26, he recalled the attack on Crocus, calling on investigators to establish all the facts in the case, but without directly accusing or indirectly Ukraine in this attack,” analysts explain.

As they recalled, the Russian ruler mentioned the Ukrainian government only once during an unrelated part of the address about the return of Russia’s “lost” property abroad. This is a marked change from his previous charges. At the same time, Kremlin Speaker Dmitry Peskov also refused to directly state that Ukraine organized the attack on Crocus when journalists asked him about it.

“Putin’s vacillation between directly blaming Ukraine one day and avoiding the issue the next suggests that the Kremlin has not yet developed a formulaic line on how to discuss the attack, likely in part due to the shock felt by the Russian elite in its aftermath.” – ISW believes.

At the same time, other officials doubled down on the Kremlin’s baseless narrative about Ukraine’s involvement in the attack while acknowledging that Russian authorities still lack critical information about the attack.

What Putin and his henchmen say about the terrorist attack at Crocus

On March 23, Putin said that four terrorists were detained on the way to Ukraine, and later noted that it was necessary to answer the question “why did the terrorists try to go to Ukraine after committing a crime, who was waiting for them there.”

Director of the Russian FSB Alexander Bortnikov noted that “Ukrainian special services contributed to the terrorist attack, radical Islamists prepared it.” Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev directly stated that Ukraine was behind this.

However, Bloomberg later wrote that Putin’s entourage does not believe that Ukraine is involved in the terrorist attack at Crocus.