“What can be seen from the organization, from the forces and means used, is that everything was planned in advance. That is, it was not some kind of stunt of semi-criminal elements. Furthermore, I see that one group ‘worked’ on targeting people around the hall, while the second set fire to the roof, which seems to have now collapsed, in order to make the terror attack look ‘very effective’ in the media,” with the image seen round the world being of “practically the best concert venue in Russia” on fire.
“I think that if a shadow falls on the Ukrainian special services, then many of Kiev’s Western partners will be more modest in their assistance, they will simply be afraid that their weapons will be used [for similar purposes]. We will watch, and see how this will impact the situation, and how they will react. But this is a shocking event, very shocking,” Filatov summed up.