Questions are being raised in the shadow of the bloody attack in Crocus City about the failure of Russian security services to prevent the attack, which in turn calls into question the security state that Vladimir Putin has declared to be his priority.

As it conveys the Reuters, Russia’s security state has been extremely effective in prosecuting and arresting opponents of Vladimir Putinbut was surprised by the massive attack near Moscow, raising questions about his prioritiesresources and information gathering.

The FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, has engaged in an operation to hunt down Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia, crack down on activists critical of the Kremlin, and disrupt the operations of hostile foreign intelligence services.

According to former US intelligence officials and security analysts, this explains why the FSB failed to prevent the attack by Islamic militantssuch as ISIS-K , which claimed responsibility for the attack.

“You can’t do everything”he told the Reuters Daniel Hoffmana former senior CIA operations officer who served as Moscow station chief.

“While they have managed to contain the Russians, sometimes they don’t get the information you need about a potential terrorist attack. There they failed.

“It’s possible they’re absorbed in dealing with the war in Ukraine and by dealing with political opposition.

The FSB said that Friday’s concert hall attack was “diligently” designed and that the gunmen had carefully hidden their weapons.

Putin said on Monday that radical Islamists had carried out the attack, but said Russia still wanted to understand who ordered it and said there were many questions for Ukraine to answer. Ukraine denies any involvement.

However, Friday’s attack, in which they were killed at least 139 people and 180 injured, undermined one of Putin’s longstanding commitments to the Russian people: to ensure stability and security.

It also shook some residents of the Russian capitalwho have been largely insulated from the violence of the war in Ukraine despite occasional drone strikes.

Putin, a former KGB officer who was elected for another six years in power earlier this month, he has weathered similar crises in the past and there is no visible threat to his power now.

His answerjudging by his past behavior and Saturday’s statement, will be to face the force with greater force.