yang. Russian president Vladimir Putin has vowed to punish those responsible for the terror attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people and, according to Russian officials, left about 145 more wounded. It was one of the worst acts of terror in Russia in decades. Throughout Russia tonight, security has been beefed up. And in Moscow, people are remembering the dead and offering help to the wounded. >> Hundreds of people lined up in the rain in Moscow this morning to donate blood and plasma, giving what they can for the wounded from last night's carnage. Yekaterina: Of course I was shocked and felt fear and horror. I've been to a concert at crocus myself and when I saw those horrible videos, I was shocked and in tears, even now, when I speak about it. It was very scary to see it all. >> A branch of the islamic state based in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack, which began with gunmen storming the hall, firing point blank at people who had gathered for a rock concert. Dave primov was among the crowd. Dave: The shots were not sporadic, there were constant volleys of gunfire. We all got up and tried to move closer to the aisles. People began to panic, started to run, and collided with each other. Some fell down and others trampled on them. >> Witnesses said the attackers threw explosive devices that started a fire. This morning, a smoldering ruin was all that was left after the roof collapsed. Investigators combed through wreckage looking for bodies and evidence. In an address to the nation, Russian president Vladimir Putin said all the gunmen had been arrested. He never mentioned the ISIS claim of responsibility, instead linking Ukraine to the attack. Pres. Putin: Now the main thing is to not let those behind this bloodbath to commit new crimes. All four of the actual performers of the act of terror, all those who shot and killed people were found and detained. They tried to hide and were moving in the direction of Ukraine. There, according to the preliminary data, they had a crossing of the border prepared from the Ukrainian side. >> Putin provided no evidence to support his claim and Kyiv denied any involvement. U.S. Intelligence said they had warned Russian officials of a planned ISIS attack in Moscow. Outside the ruins of the concert hall today, people left flowers at a makeshift memorial. Among them, concertgoer anastasia rodionova, who says she feels lucky to be alive. Anastasia: They were just walking and shooting as they went along. Gunning down everyone methodically in silence. You understand only now that you are lucky, really lucky. I came home, my coat was just covered in blood. Apparently someone shielded me. >> Putin declared tomorrow a national day of mourning as the search goes on for answers about the brutal attack. Journalist Michael Weiss is the editor of the insider, an independent news outlet covering Russia. He is also co-author of "ISIS: Inside the army of terror." Michael, what do we know about isis-k? This branch of ISIS that's claimed responsibility. Michael: So isis-k is established in Afghanistan, and they arranged against a host of other jihadi actors, including the Taliban Al Qaeda, and they've been angling to hit Russia for quite a while. If you look at their communiques and their propaganda, they reviled Vladimir Putin, one of the reasons being that Russia maintains a partnership with the Taliban, their sworn enemy. The United States has fairly good intelligence on their capability and their motivation because we occupy Afghanistan for more than 20 years, and clearly our departure has has not really interfered with the ability to collect signals intelligence, which is what I believe the United States passed along to Moscow a little less than a month ago. On March 7, you will recall the U. S embassy put out a notice advising people to stay away from public events for the next and that indeed according to 48 hours. Reporting was tied to a credible ISIS threat planned by Russia. John: Why did Russian security miss this? Michael: Well, we don't know that they did. I mean, it's always possible that some guys can slip through or that the intelligence was not specific enough to identify the time, place and the kind of , culprits that would behind it. But look, I mean, it's no mystery that Russia's security and military resources are predominantly pouring poured into the war of conquest in Ukraine, and also at the domestic level. There's a lot of huge crackdown on dissent. People arrested at alexei navalny's funeral a few weeks ago. They're cracking down on any kind of anti war demonstrations or protests. You know if you so much as post a news article from the New York Times about Russian casualties and in Ukraine you could be thrown in jail for several years. So what we're seeing emerge in Russia is a kind of neo totalitarian state and under those conditions, the idea that you know the perfidious Americans are claiming that isis-k or some islamist group is trying to attack Russia. You can imagine the paranoia at the level of the Kremlin that they probably wouldn't credit that as plausible. They would see it as some kind of psychological operation. And I mean, indeed president , Putin came out today and sort of pointed the finger at Ukraine. Even though it is highly implausible that Ukraine had anything to do with this whatsoever. John: Not only pointed the finger in Ukraine, he didn't mention the ISIS claim of responsibility at all. What do you think is going on with that? Michael: Well, it's embarrassing to Putin, right? I mean, you know the the kind of leitmotif of his reign, at least in the in the first decade and a half was to reconstitute fortress Russia. To make Russia this kind of impenetrable security state, which at all but withered away with the collapse of the soviet union. You know Putin himself, famously former lieutenant colonel in the kgb. The kgb was colloquially known as the sword and the shield. It was there to protect the state. The sanctity of the state. So for him, he's got a lot of egg on his face right now, because this wasn't just a kind of a terror attack where you , know, some lone wolf drove a car into a crowd. This was highly sophisticated. This has been planned for months. If you take ISIS at their word the Russian security services claimed to have detained for of the assailants. And this was a, you know, machine gunfire into a crowded mall and concert venue but also a fire set to burn the whole place down, which it looks very much like they succeeded in that respect. And now we're talking about over 100 people dead and many more wounded. So this is a this is going to be a trauma in Russia. And so Putin, I think is as is his want is trying to deflect blame away from himself to point the finger at, you know, mysterious, dark forces that are arrayed against Russia. The question is the Russian people going to buy it this time? John: And what would you expect Putin to use this as sort of as a pretense in the war with Ukraine? Michael: Well, that's one of the fears. Yeah, I mean, if if he's saying that, you know the long dark arm of the Ukrainian intelligence services, and, of course, behind them, keep in mind he always blames the United States. He thinks of Ukraine as as a vassal not with no agency or sovereignty of its own. But if he's pointing the finger at Ukraine, suggesting that you know these jihadis were making their way for the russian-ukrainian border -- not a very clever exit strategy for anybody who's just carried out an attack like that, by the way, -- one could hypothesize he's using that as a pretext to escalate. Now Russia has begun to refer to this operation in Ukraine, which is a war. It's no longer just a special military operation. There's been all kinds of rumors and reporting in the Russian press about a possible mobilization campaign, meaning a huge call up not a partial mobilization like before. Possibly another attempted attack an area of northeast Ukraine a city that had been one , of the main targets in February of 2022, so we don't know. And as you can imagine, because of this it's led to any number of conspiracy theories. I have seen many Ukrainians suggest that the Russians themselves may have planned this as a false flag attack akin to the Moscow apartment bombings. Ukrainian military intelligence suggested as much, in this case, I have to be honest, I mean, you know, I've spent a long time studying ISIS and their tactics and their motives. It certainly seems to me like what you see is what you get here. Isis-k looking to attack Russia and succeeding in a spectacular fashion. John: Michael Weiss, editor of the insider, thank you very much. Michael: Sure, anytime. ♪♪
