US intelligence officials warned their counterparts in Russia of an imminent terrorist attack being planned for Moscow earlier this month, but in a public address earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the notification “provocative” and dismissed it as an attempt to sow distrust, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Putin said the notification “resembles outright blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.” But US officials took it seriously enough to issue a specific warning through the American embassy in Moscow to American citizens. In a “security alert” posted on March 7th, the embassy said it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours.”