"Demonstrative humiliation": The City Hall Crocus Terctroact hit Putin's image - NYT

Restoration of order has always been a business card of Putin, but the terrorist attack in the shopping center exposed that his praised security apparatus could not prevent it. The terrorist act at the City Holi City Center in Moscow has a negative impact on the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who puts national security in the first place. The article for New York Times is said.

Less than a week ago, Russian President Vladimir Vladimir Putin won the presidential election and went to the fifth term, winning a record percentage of votes, using elections to show nations and the world that he firmly controls the situation. In just a few days, a burning counterpoint appeared - its praised security apparatus was not able to prevent the most massive terrorist attack in Russia for 20 years.

"At least 133 people were killed in a concert hall in Moscow's suburbs, became a blow to Mr. Putin's aura as a leader for whom national security is a primary thing. This is especially true after two years of war in Ukraine, which he describes as a key to survival Russia - and which he called his main priority after the elections last Sunday, " - writes the newspaper.

The media emphasizes that the President of the Russian Federation was able to appear before the Russian people only 19 hours after the terrorist attack and accused Ukraine. Instead, he said nothing about the growing evidence that the attack had been committed by a branch of the Islamic state. "The elections have shown, seemingly confident victory.

And suddenly against the backdrop of a confident victory is a demonstrative humiliation," Russian political scientist Alexander Kinev said in an interview with Moscow. The author of the article believes that the fact that Mr Putin obviously ignored the warning of the United States against a potential terrorist attack would probably increase skepticism. Instead of acting in accordance with warnings and strengthening security measures, he rejected them as "provocative statements".

"The question of which part of the Russian public will believe in his arguments. They can think about the question of whether Mr. Putin, in view of the invasion and his conflict with the West, takes care of the interests of the country's security - whether he is sad as they say, as they say Many of his opponents, ”the newspaper writes. On March 22, unknown people with machine guns entered the City Hall City Shopping Center and began to shoot visitors who got to their eyes.

Then there was a fire in the institution. The guards of the shopping center were naked, they had only electric shops. Terrorists came into the building from two directions and well -prepared, eyewitnesses say. In the Russian Federation, the suspect in the terrorist attack in the "crocus" in the Moscow region cut off the ear and tried to force him to eat. Zelensky rejected the accusations that Putin voiced on March 23.