The Russian President will seek to channel public outrage over the massacre into propping up support for his war on Ukraine, experts say.
The terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre and released graphic footage showing the attack last Friday that killed at least 139 people – but the Russian government has maintained Ukraine had a hand in the attack, despite firm denials by Kyiv.
"Who Moscow decides to blame is probably more important than who did it," Associate Professor Matt Sussex, of the Australian National University in Canberra, told 9news.com.au. "They'll probably wait a bit for the dust to settle after the Moscow attack, but it is entirely possible Putin will put the country on a war footing."In October 2022, the Russian president announced a "partial" mobilisation of 300,000 military reservists after a series of battlefield defeats.
Senior Kremlin officials claimed after the attack the accused gunmen aimed to flee through a border "window" into neighbouring Ukraine, despite the region being a war zone.In this photo released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers work inside the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow following an attack for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
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