Russia knew of terrorist attack plot weeks ago, Ukraine's military spy chief says

Russia was aware that a terrorist attack was being planned weeks before the massacre at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last Friday, Ukraine's military intelligence chief has claimed.

"At least since February 15, 2024, the Russian Federation had been aware about the plot," Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, told a forum Wednesday.

"I will tell you more, this information passed through their intelligence station in Syria. From there it was forwarded to Moscow. So they shouldn't be telling tales that this all materialized in a strange way out of nowhere," Budanov said Wednesday at the Kyiv Stratcom Forum, news agency Ukrinform reported.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed it was behind the Moscow attack last Friday in which 143 died. Russian authorities have arrested several people, including four suspected gunmen, who have been charged with terrorism offenses and are awaiting trial.

IS' claim has not stopped high-ranking Russian officials and pro-Kremlin media from pointing the finger at Ukraine and its Western allies, saying they were behind the attack. Russia has not produced evidence to back up its claims which Ukraine, the U.S. and U.K. reject as "utter nonsense" and "categorically false."

The White House emphasized that it had warned Russia weeks ago that it believed "extremists" planned to carry out an attack, warning its own citizens in Russia against attending large gatherings as the threat was "imminent." Russia had, at the time of the warning, dismissed the threat, with Putin saying such pronouncements were "provocative" and designed to intimidate Russia.

Budanov claimed Russia knew where the combat groups would come from, and which countries the attackers would travel through to