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☆ Downtown Los Angeles Places Another Big Bet on the Arts
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Robin Pogrebin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For decades the effort to revitalize downtown Los Angeles has been tied to arts projects, from the construction of the midcentury modern Music Center in 1964 to the addition of Frank Gehry’s soaring stainless steel Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2003. But the pandemic was tough on downtowns and cultural institutions around the country, and Los Angeles has been no exception. Its downtown office vacancy rates climbed above 25 percent. Homelessness and crime remain concerns. Many arts organizations have yet to recover their prepandemic audiences.

Persons: Frank Organizations: Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall Locations: Los Angeles

CNN —Paris police will “considerably boost security measures” for the Champions League quarterfinal between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona this week, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told journalists Tuesday. The heightened security presence follows a threat from the Islamic State terror group against the Parc des Princes and other European soccer stadiums hosting Champions League matches, Darmanin said. “We’re aware of online and media reports in relation to calls to target matches across Europe and here in London. Tightened security in the Spanish capitalIn Madrid, Spanish security forces are reinforcing security measures ahead of the city’s two Champions League games at the Bernabéu and Civitas Metropolitano stadiums, police sources told CNN. On Wednesday, 1,275 security personnel are expected to be deployed for a match watched by around 68,000.

Persons: Germain, Gerald Darmanin, Darmanin, ”, Ade Adelekan, “, Clive Mason, Santiago Bernabéu, Francisco Martín Organizations: CNN, Paris, Champions League, Paris Saint, French, League, European, UEFA, London’s Metropolitan Police, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Emirates, ” Arsenal, Metropolitan Police, Police, Bayern, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Santiago, PSG, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, ISIS, Civitas Metropolitano, Spanish Locations: Barcelona, Parc des, London’s, London, Europe, Moscow, Spanish, Madrid, England

☆ Opinion: Despite ISIS threat, Putin’s only concern is the politics of terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Opinion Douglas London | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Russia knows it has a terrorist problem, despite its deflection and spin to preserve Putin’s image, but his priorities are elsewhere. Russian intelligence also suffers from systemic failings in recognizing, penetrating and dismantling terrorist cells, failings that stem from doctrine and a deliberately stovepiped structure that obstructs information sharing and agility. FSB officers will coerce, threaten and intimidate potential sources with diminishing returns that will only fuel ISIS-K recruitment and fundraising, which is no doubt seeing a surge from its Moscow attack. Russian intelligence will be left to depend on the unwilling, ill-informed or duplicitous. At the Islamic State’s height, Tajik Gulmurod Khalimov commanded its Iraqi capital of Mosul.

Persons: Douglas London, ”, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Bortnikov, Douglas, Mike Pompeo, Russia’s, Sergey Naryshkin, Igor Korobov, Donald Trump, Pompeo, Russia Michael McFaul, Barack Obama, Trump, Putin, Gulmurod Khalimov, Khalimov, “ Omar al, “ Omar, ” Batirashvili, Washington, Sergei Skripal, Yulia Organizations: CIA, of American Intelligence, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Global National Security Institutes, CNN, Federal Security Service, CBC, Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Military Intelligence, Trump, White, ISIS, Central, Former, Terrorism, Embassy, K’s, Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry, Islamic Locations: South, Southwest Asia, London, Khorasan, United States, Afghanistan, Islamic State, Great Britain, Russia, Washington, State, Moscow, Syria, Iraq, Russian, US, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Central Asia, Central Asian, Central, East, Turkey, Turkish, Istanbul, Mosul, Chechen, Georgian, Georgia, Iran, Kerman, Salisbury, England

☆ The Kremlin is demanding that Ukraine arrest its security chief and send him to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russia is demanding that Ukraine arrest its own security chief and extradite him to Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Vasyl Malyuk of being involved in terrorist acts. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementRussia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded on Sunday evening that Ukraine arrest the head of its own security services and extradite him to Russia. The ministry issued a statement blaming Vasyl Malyuk, the chief of the Security Service of Ukraine, for an explosion at a bridge in Crimea that Russia said killed five people in October 2022.

Persons: Vasyl Malyuk, Malyuk, — Organizations: Russian Foreign Ministry, Service, Russia's, of Foreign Affairs, Security Service, Business Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Crimea

☆ Putin wants to crack down on immigration after the Moscow attack. That would make the nation's labor shortage even worse.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russia is looking to crack down on migrants after the terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall. But those measures could end up harming its economy, because there's already a shortage of available workers. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementRussia's immigration crackdown could end up delivering another serious blow to its economy, with the nation already suffering from a severe shortage of workers.

Persons: there's, — Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Business Locations: Russia, Moscow

For all of the counterterrorism wins that the United States has had in its fight against the Islamic State — and there have been many — we still have not figured out how to defeat it. It served as the latest deadly reminder that the Islamic State — and particularly its Khorasan branch, ISIS-K, which is active in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan — remains a potent threat. Several ISIS-K plots in Europe have been disrupted, with arrests in Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands. All of these events point to what we now know: Stripping the Islamic State of its self-proclaimed caliphate is not the same as beating it. Forced from this redoubt, ISIS has reconstituted itself in other countries, going underground in less detectable — but more dangerous — forms.

Persons: “ Organizations: Islamic, —, ISIS Locations: United States, Russian, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kabul, Turkey, Europe, Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Britain, State, Levant, Southeast Asia

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

☆ Central Asian migrants face xenophobic backlash in Russia after Moscow terror attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sebastian Shukla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The men had been in Russia as migrant workers on either temporary or expired visas, authorities said. But in the days since, that emotion – combined with the disturbing videos – appears to have unleashed a wave of xenophobia from some towards Central Asian migrant workers in general. Her organization offers legal assistance to migrants looking for help in Russia, often on a pro bono basis. We need to spread the word.”A user in another channel, with 200,000 followers, suggested there was no space for anyone to feel sorry for migrants in Russia. According to Umerov, there are some 7 million migrants in Russia, of whom around 80% are from Central Asia.

Persons: Moskovsky, “ I’m, Vladimir Putin, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Putin, ”, ‘ It’s, Valentina Chupik, Tong Jahoni, Temur Umerov, don’t, ” Umerov, Umerov, Emomali Rahmon, “ Putin Organizations: CNN, Moscow’s Crocus, Central, Crocus City Hall, Reuters, Soviet, Kazakhstan —, Human Rights Watch, Central Asia, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Hall, Russian, Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, European Bank for Reconstruction, “, Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, ISIS, Kremlin Locations: Moscow’s Crocus City, Tajikistan, Soviet, Central Asia, Russia, Ivanovo, Russian, Crocus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Illinois, Moscow, Central, Berlin, Ukraine, Kyrgyz, Tashkent, Western

☆ Kremlin’s security services were aware of ISIS threat to Russia before concert attack, new evidence from investigative body suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Matthew Chance | Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Kremlin’s security services were aware of an ISIS threat days before a deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow, Russian intelligence documents obtained by a UK-based investigative organization suggest. The Dossier Center is a Russian investigation group backed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled former Russian oil tycoon turned Kremlin critic. “Even before the attack on Crocus City Hall, a source close to the intelligence services told the Dossier Center about this,” it added. The following year, German police arrested several people from Tajikistan accused of plotting an attack on Cologne Cathedral, according to the Dossier Center. According to the Dossier Center, Russian law enforcement was monitoring all these reports and “considered the risk” to Russia.

Persons: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vladimir Putin, “, ”, Adrienne Watson, Putin, ” Putin, Ilya Ponomarev, CNN’s Erin Burnett Organizations: CNN, ISIS, Crocus City Hall, Security, Crocus City, Central, Embassy, National Security, Kremlin Locations: Moscow, London, Russia, Crocus, Russian, Tajikistan, Washington, United States, Ukraine, Kabul, Cologne, Kyrgyzstan

☆ Former CIA officer breaks down 'duty to warn' requirement that saw the US give rival Russia a heads up before the attack in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ex-CIA officer Laura Thomas explained the 'duty to warn' protocol, that sounds the alarm on threats. Before the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack, Russia dismissed the US warnings. The CIA uses the "duty to warn" protocol to alert a US or non-US entity of an impending threat. Once a "duty to warn" notification is delivered, the CIA officer who issued the warning documents marks it as a "fulfilled" duty. "CIA's own duty to warn process does not always involve State Department, as it is not the same as a 'public' notification," Thomas said.

Persons: Laura Thomas, —, It's, ake, ould, ure, eason, haring, ike Organizations: CIA, Crocus City, Service, ust, tate Locations: Russia, italy

For Evan Gershkovich, the dozen appearances in Moscow's courts over the past year have fallen into a pattern. Guards take the American journalist from the notorious Lefortovo Prison in a van for the short drive to the courthouse. The periodic court hearings give Gershkovich’s family, friends and U.S. officials a glimpse of him, and for the 32-year-old journalist, it’s a break from his otherwise largely monotonous prison routine. Friends and family say Gershkovich is relying on his sense of humor to get through the days. Every day, Milman said, “I wake up and look at the clock.”“I think about if his lunchtime has passed, and his bedtime," she said.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, He’s, Gershkovich, it’s, “ It’s, ”, Ella Milman, Milman, Nicholas Daniloff, Emma Tucker, ” Milman, Evan, Francesca Ebel, Josef Stalin's, he’s, Polina Ivanova, He's, Pjotr Sauer, ” Sauer, Mikhail Gershkovich, doesn't, “, Biden, Lynne Tracy, Gershkovich “, Vladimir Putin, Vadim Krasikov, ” Ebel, Journal's Tucker, I’m, Tracy Organizations: Wall, Journal, Federal Security Service, U.S, Associated Press, Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Arsenal, British, Guardian, West Locations: Lefortovo, Yekaterinburg, Washington, Russia, Ukraine, “, New Jersey, Moscow, Russian, Germany, Berlin, Georgian

☆ The Broad Museum, a Los Angeles Favorite, Is Expanding
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Robin Pogrebin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Broad, the free contemporary art collection that has become one of the most popular museums in Los Angeles since it opened in 2015, is expanding, officials said on Wednesday. It plans to open before the 2028 Summer Olympics, which are being held in Los Angeles. The project will continue the legacy of the museum’s founder, Eli Broad, a businessman and philanthropist who sought to reinvigorate downtown Los Angeles with arts and culture, who died in 2021. “This really doubles down on the collecting approach and ultimate mission we have here, which is to build as large an audience for contemporary art as possible,” Joanne Heyler, the Broad’s founding director and president, said in a recent interview. “That was built into Eli’s ethos from the very beginning, and what he said even before we dreamed of opening a museum of our own.”

Persons: Diller, Scofidio, Eli Broad, ” Joanne Heyler, ” Organizations: Walt Disney Concert Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Worries Over Ethnic Tensions Have Kremlin Treading Carefully on Massacre
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Anton Troianovski | Milana Mazaeva | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At a memorial service this week outside the concert hall where Islamist extremists are suspected of carrying out a deadly terrorist attack, one of Russia’s most popular pro-Kremlin rappers warned “right-wing and far-right groups” that they must not “incite ethnic hatred.”At a televised meeting about the attack, Russia’s top prosecutor, Igor Krasnov, pledged that his service was paying “special attention” to preventing “interethnic and interfaith conflicts.”And when President Vladimir V. Putin made his first comments on the tragedy last weekend, he said he would not allow anyone to “sow the poisonous seeds of hatred, panic and discord in our multiethnic society.”In the wake of the assault near Moscow that killed 139 people last Friday, there has been a recurring theme in the Kremlin’s response: a fear that the tragedy could spur ethnic strife inside Russia. While Mr. Putin and his security chiefs are accusing Ukraine — without evidence — of having helped organize the killing, the fact that the four detained suspects in the attack are from the predominantly Muslim Central Asian country of Tajikistan is stoking anti-migrant rhetoric online.

Persons: “, ”, Igor Krasnov, “ interethnic, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Kremlin, Ukraine, Central Locations: Moscow, Russia, Central Asian, Tajikistan

☆ Russia claimed the West, Kyiv ordered the Moscow terror attack. Now it has the problem of proving it
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin at an expanded Prosecutor General's Office meeting on March 26, 2024, in Moscow. An investigation into the attack is ongoing, but the latest, outlandish accusations give Moscow a problem: It now has to find the evidence to back up its unsubstantiated claims. What's particularly awkward for the Kremlin is that the Islamic State militant group has already claimed responsibility for the attack. Ukraine denies any involvement in the attack, saying it was "absolutely predictable" that Moscow would look to blame it. The White House said Ukraine had "no involvement whatsoever" in the attack and that any claim to the contrary was "Kremlin propaganda."

Persons: Vladimir Putin, It's, Andrius, Putin, David Cameron, concertgoers, Alexander Bortnikov, Nikolai Patrushev, Sergei Karpukhin, Nikolai Patrushev —, —, Patrushev, Maria Zakharova, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Moscow, Margarita Simonyan, Putin's, Alexander Lukashenko, Rachabalizoda, Barotovich, Muhammadsobir, Shamsidin Fariduni, Tatyana Makeyevaolga Maltseva, Max Hess Organizations: General's, Getty, Ukraine, Crocus City Hall, Islamic State, West, Kremlin, Russia's Federal Security Service, Russian Security, AFP, Security, Islamic, RIA Novosti, Russian Foreign, U.S, Kremlin's, CNBC Wednesday, Institute for, Afp, Analysts, Foreign Policy Research Institute, CNBC, CIA Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Crocus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukrainian, Europe, Russian, U.S, Kyiv, Belarusian, Belarus, Basmanny, Soviet Union

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia says U.S. defended Kyiv too quickly after terror attack; Ukraine reshuffles security chiefs
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"As for whether it is possible to say 'one way or another': you can say it any way you want. But (...) while the investigation is underway, the official authorities cannot afford to do any statements on this matter," Peskov told reporters, news agency Interfax reported. "Although I recommend that you very carefully reread President Putin's statements that he made over the last two days. Russia has presented no evidence that there was any involvement by Ukraine and Kyiv itself vehemently denies any role in the deadly attack on concertgoers. Eight suspects, nationals of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, have been remanded in custody and charged with terrorism offenses ahead of trial.

Persons: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV, KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Putin, — Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Getty, Kremlin, concertgoers Locations: Zaryadye, Basil's, Moscow, AFP, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

☆ Russia Has No Formal Death Penalty. Here’s How That Might Change.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Valeriya Safronova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The attack at a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed 139 people last Friday has prompted some Russians to call for bringing back capital punishment in Russia, and to execute the assailants. Through a combination of presidential action and court rulings, Russia has had a moratorium on the death penalty for 28 years. And yet capital punishment remains on the books — suspended but not abolished outright. Who is advocating or opposing the death penalty? A number of public figures have demanded execution of the concert hall attackers, described by officials as militant Islamists from Tajikistan, in Central Asia.

Locations: Moscow, Russia, Tajikistan, Central Asia

CNN —The final death toll from the Moscow concert hall attack last week could be higher than the 143 confirmed dead, as Russian investigators said they have received more than 100 reports of missing people. Investigators had said earlier that they had also received 143 reports of missing people since Friday. Russian social media channels have since been filled with appeals from friends and relatives to help find the victims still missing. Mourners lay flowers in Moscow on Saturday for the victims of the Crocus City Hall attack. Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty ImagesDespite ISIS sharing video evidence, Russian President Vladimir Putin has baselessly claimed that Ukraine was in some way responsible for the attack.

Persons: Olga Maltseva, Vladimir Putin, – Putin, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, “, Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, –, Tajikistan – Organizations: CNN, Russia’s, Crocus City, ISIS, Saturday, Kremlin Locations: Moscow, Russia, Crocus, AFP, Russian, Ukraine, Belarus, Soviet, Tajikistan

☆ Opinion | Who Is Blowing Up Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are two plausible hypotheses regarding Friday’s terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow, in which at least 139 people were killed. The first is that it was an inside job — orchestrated by Russian security services, or at least carried out with their foreknowledge. In closed societies, they’re a reasonable (if not always correct) way to understand political phenomena. In 1999, more than 300 Russians were killed and 1,700 injured in a series of apartment bombings for which authorities blamed Chechen terrorists. Initial tests of the powder found it contained the same explosive, hexogen, that had been used in other bombings.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin — Organizations: Federal Security Service Locations: Moscow, Russian, Ryazan

☆ Belarus' leader undermined the Kremlin's dubious claims that Ukraine backed ISIS attackers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Lukashenko claims Belarus and Russian security prevented Moscow shooting suspects from entering Belarus. AdvertisementBelarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said his country's security, with the help of Russia's Federal Security Service, tried to prevent Crocus City Hall shooting suspects from entering Belarus. "There was no chance they could enter Belarus," Lukashenko said, reported the state-run Belarusian Telegraph Agency. Lukashenko's statements on the concert hall terror suspects fleeing towards Belarus undermine the Kremlin's claims that the suspects tried to escape to Ukraine first, in an attempt to link Ukraine to the attack. No credible evidence has emerged to suggest that Ukraine was involved in the attack that killed at least 139 people.

Persons: Lukashenko, Putin, —, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Maria Zakharova, Crocus Organizations: Service, Federal Security Service, Crocus, Belarusian Telegraph Agency, ISIS, Russian Ministry of Foreign Locations: Belarus, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Washington

☆ Display of Battered Men Was Russia’s Warning to the Public, Analysts Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The four men accused of carrying out Russia’s deadliest terror attack in decades appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday night bandaged and battered. Another was in an orange wheelchair, his left eye bulging, his hospital gown open and a catheter on his lap. One of the most disturbing videos showed one defendant, identified as Saidakrami M. Rajabalizoda, having part of his ear sliced off and shoved in his mouth. A photograph circulating online showed a battery hooked up to genitals of another, Shamsidin Fariduni, while he was being detained. How the videos began circulating was not immediately clear, but they were spread by nationalistic, pro-war Telegram channels that are regarded as close to Russia’s security services.

Persons: Rajabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni Locations: Moscow

☆ The Islamic State Claimed the Moscow Attack. The Kremlin Is Still Blaming Others.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Tiffany Hsu | Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even before the deadly toll of the attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday became clear, officials in Russia linked it to the war against Ukraine and a broader conflict with the West. Ninety minutes after first reports of the attack, Dmitri A. Medvedev, the former president and the deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s security council, darkly hinted at “terrorists of the Kyiv regime.”The claim of responsibility by the Islamic State did little to temper the Kremlin’s narrative, which has unspooled in a torrent of unsupported accusations and baseless, even fanciful conspiracy theories spread across social media. When President Vladimir V. Putin said “radical Islamists” had carried out the attack, he called it “just an element in a series of attempts of those who have been at war with our country since 2014,” an explicit reference to Ukraine and the upheaval that year that led to the illegal annexation of Crimea. “They need a ‘Big Lie,’” said Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York, who has written extensively on Russian politics and propaganda.

Persons: Dmitri A, Medvedev, Vladimir V, Putin, “, ”, ’ ”, Nina Khrushcheva Organizations: Ukraine, West, New School Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kyiv, Ukraine, Crimea, “, New York

☆ Turkey Details Visits by Accused Moscow Attackers to Istanbul
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Ben Hubbard | More About Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two men accused in the terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall spent time in Istanbul just weeks before the assault, a senior Turkish security official said on Tuesday, adding that the shortness of the men’s visits suggested that they had not been radicalized in Turkey. The information came on the same day that the Turkish Interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, wrote on the platform X that the Turkish security services had caught 147 people alleged to have connections to the Islamic State since last June. Mr. Yerlikaya did not say how many of those suspects had been apprehended since the concert hall attack in Moscow last week or whether any of those previously arrested were believed to have links to that attack. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of government protocols, the senior security official said that one of the attack suspects who traveled to Turkey, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 5 and spent 16 days in a hotel in the city’s Fatih District. He left for Moscow on March 2, the official said.

Persons: Ali Yerlikaya, Yerlikaya, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda Organizations: Islamic, Mr, Moscow Locations: Moscow, Istanbul, Turkish, Turkey, Islamic State, Jan, city’s Fatih District

☆ Lukashenko undermines Putin’s Ukraine claim on Moscow concert hall attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko appears to have cast doubt on Russia’s claims that Ukraine was involved in the brutal attack at a Moscow concert hall last week. Putin on Saturday claimed that a “window” had been prepared for the attackers to escape to Ukraine, which Kyiv has denied. But Lukashenko, one of Putin’s most loyal allies, on Tuesday appeared to contradict the Kremlin’s claims, saying that the attackers initially intended to enter Belarus rather than Ukraine. Putin lights a candle on Sunday in memory of victims of the Crocus City Hall attack. Shamil Zhumatov/ReutersA total of 11 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on the concert hall, Russian officials said.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Lukashenko, …, ” Lukashenko, Belta, “, Alexander Bortnikov, Putin “, Dalerdzhon, Shamil Zhumatov, It’s Organizations: CNN, Belarusian, ISIS, Saturday, Kyiv, Crocus City, Central, Monday, Putin, Russia’s Federal Security Services, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, “, Belarusian, Russia, Crocus, Tajikistan, Russia’s Bryansk, Kremlin, Bryansk, Basmanny

☆ Russia Digs In on Claim Ukraine and West Were Behind Terrorist Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Russia on Tuesday deepened its accusations against Ukraine and its Western allies, claiming again, without evidence, that they were most likely involved in the terrorist attack on a concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 139 people. Aleksandr Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service, the top security agency in Russia, said that the assault “was prepared by both radical Islamists themselves and, naturally, facilitated by Western special services.”The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, and eight people have been arrested in connection with the assault. According to the state news agency Tass, when asked whether Russia believed the United States, Britain and Ukraine were involved in the attack, Mr. Bortnikov said “we believe that’s the case.”

Persons: Aleksandr Bortnikov, “, Bortnikov, ” Organizations: Ukraine, Federal Security Service, Tass Locations: Russia, Moscow, United States, Britain, Ukraine

☆ As Russia Mourns Attack Victims, State Media Intensifies Blame of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Russians grieved Monday for victims of the bloody assault on a concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 137 people, President Vladimir V. Putin was scheduled to meet with government officials to discuss the tragedy, the worst such attack in the capital in two decades. The government appears to be stepping up efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine. On Sunday, hours after a district court arraigned four men suspected of carrying out the Friday night attack, the main evening news shows on Russia’s main television channels featured reports suggesting that Ukraine was responsible. The main message was that Western countries were pushing a theory that a branch of the Islamic State was behind the attack, which took place at Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow, to shift blame away from Ukraine. “The United States and Europe understand that any connection between Ukraine and the attack against Crocus City Hall would be suicidal for Kyiv and the whole anti-Russian alliance,” said one anchor, Dmitri Melnikov, in a report on Vesti Nedeli, the flagship weekly news show on Rossiya-1, the main state-owned television network.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ”, Dmitri Melnikov, Nedeli Organizations: Islamic, Crocus City, Kyiv Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Islamic State, United States, Europe

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