The Tragedy in Moscow Isn't Over Yet, says CIA's former Chief of Central Eurasia Division

The Tragedy in Moscow Isn’t Over Yet, says CIA’s former Chief of Central Eurasia Division

TOPSHOT – Mourners stand in a queue to lay flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk on March 24, 2024, as Russia observes a national day of mourning after a massacre that killed more than 130 people. (Photo by Olga MALTSEVA / AFP) (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)

Posted: March 24th, 2024

By Rob Dannenberg

Rob Dannenberg served as chief of operations for CIA's Counterterrorism Center, chief of the Central Eurasia Division and chief of the Information Operations Center before retiring from the Agency. He served as managing director and head of the Office of Global Security for Goldman Sachs, and as director of International Security Affairs at BP. He is now an independent consultant on geopolitical and security risk.

OPINION / EXPERT PERSPECTIVE – The death toll from last week’s terrorist attack inside a concert hall in a suburban Moscow neighborhood is now at least 133 people in what is one of the worst terrorist attacks to occur during the presidency of Vladimir Putin.

The Crocus Theater and attached shopping mall were attacked by a number of armed gunmen, who shot the security guards and then opened fire on the sold-out crowd at the theater. The theater and mall were also set on fire, possibly using Molotov cocktails carried by the attackers. In the confusion that followed the slow Russian security/police response, the attackers escaped.

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