It’s still unclear how the Kremlin will use the concert hall attack against Ukraine. My immediate fear was outright blame on Kyiv, followed by full mobilization, but that hasn’t yet materialized.
Currently, what’s most worrying about the official response is openly torturing the suspects. (They videotaped this, and one of the suspects was even brought into court with a torn plastic drawstring bag still around his neck.) The message this sends, to say nothing of the reality captured on video, is terrifying.
It would not surprise me if the terrorists who did this haver not had their demise arranged, perhaps as with other opponents of Putin they will meet a sticky end. Nerve agents, falling out of windows, plane crashes etc seem normal way to remove those who oppose Putin.
Given what happened, any prison guards may relish the chance of revenge.
