Moscow and other Russian cities, based on input from Vladimir Putin, canceled the Victory March, celebrating the victory over Nazism, on May 9 for security reasons. Tass reported this quoting the co-president of the movement’s headquarters, Elena Tsunayeva. “Due to existing threats to public security, the headquarters of the Russian Immortal Regiment has decided to cancel the 2024 Immortal Regiment march,” Tsunayeva explained at a press conference, adding that this year the celebrations on May 9 will take the form of other events.
Putin fears an encore at Crocus City Hall
The Kremlin’s fear is that the celebrations could become a tempting opportunity to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian soil, as already happened on March 23 when a jihadist commando hit the Crocus City Hall in Moscow causing at least 133 deaths and hundreds of injuries. An attack that had been claimed by ISIS, complete with threats of future terrorist actions, and which had led to the arrest of 11 people.
An attack that for weeks was the subject of international debate with the Kremlin which, despite the evidence, including live footage of the massacre, initially pointed the finger at Ukraine’s secret services. Only after days of furious controversy, Putin admitted that the attack on Crocus City Hall had been carried out by ISIS jihadists but, according to him, thanks to the collaboration of Western intelligence.
Thesis flatly and long denied by Joe Biden and by the other EU leaders who, on the contrary, had always supported their extraneousness and condemned the Islamist attack.
