Moscow (AFP) – Russian police have arrested a minor in connection with an alleged plot to attack Moscow, Russian news agencies reported Sunday, after Russia received a tip-off from the United States. The US embassy in Moscow published a statement on Saturday saying it was “aware of a credible threat of a mass casualty event…at the Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve in Moscow.” The US embassy did not give details on who was plotting the attack.
In a statement quoted by Russian news agencies on Sunday, Russia’s FSB security service said it had arrested a minor who had posted photos of himself on TikTok wearing a balaclava, cap, and goggles and holding what resembled an automatic weapon. The unidentified male, who the FSB said was a Russian citizen, had shared photos taken at the Tsaritsyno museum reserve along with the caption: “I found a place” and was allegedly subscribed to a “neo-Nazi” Telegram channel, it said. The FSB did not name the male in question.
“We are grateful to the American side for the information provided,” the FSB was quoted as saying. The Tsaritsyno museum is an imperial palace and park complex in southern Moscow popular with residents and tourists.
Russian Telegram channel Baza, which has reported links to law enforcement, said the park was closed on Saturday and open only for people leaving the grounds. The US has provided Russia with warnings of planned attacks before, including in March 2024, weeks before an ISIS-K attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed over 100 people.
Relations between Russia and the United States have thawed in recent months, amid ongoing strain between Washington and Kyiv over a US-Russia diesel deal.
© 2024 AFP
