Moscow terrorist attack is a serious blow to President Putin

A terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow that killed hundreds of people just a week after Vladimir Putin was elected to a fifth term as Russian president has highlighted the country's security situation. How challenging this situation is for Putin, US media CNN's chief international affairs reporter Matthew Chance has tried to highlight.

Vladimir Putin has been elected president for the fifth term promising to provide security to Russia. But within a week he faced a terrible incident. He witnessed the horrific terrorist attacks and chaos in Moscow.

The Islamic State Khorasan, or IS, has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on the massive Crocus City hall concert venue and shopping complex near Moscow. 133 people were killed in this attack. More than 100 people were injured.

Russian authorities said 11 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the incident. Among them are four gunmen who participated in the attack. Four suspects were arrested near the Ukrainian border. Putin alleged that the four planned to flee to Ukraine. However, Kiev has denied involvement in the attack. Authorities in Kiev have warned that Moscow could use it as a pretext to escalate attacks on Ukraine. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at major transport hubs across Russia amid fears of further terror attacks. Public concerts and sporting events have been suspended.

But this has nothing to do with the hope of stability and security that Russian citizens have voted to elect Putin as president. Putin has long been seen as a leader capable of bringing order to the vast and turbulent country. But Russia now looks the most insecure and unstable of Putin's 24-year rule.

The Kremlin's brutal war in Ukraine has been three years in the making.The country's military has not released information on casualties. However, the United States believes that 300,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the Ukraine war.

The troops who were sent to the battlefield last year have not yet been brought back. Concerned relatives have started protesting about it. As the war dragged on, Russian citizens feared an army rally to send them back to war.

Meanwhile, Kremlin officials have been kept awake by continuous Ukrainian drone strikes and attacks by Ukrainian-based armed forces in border areas.

Russian forces seem to have renewed initiative in the fight against Ukraine. But the weakness of Russian commanders and weapons prowess has fueled a completely unexpected wave of instability.

The mutiny last year by Yevgeny Prigoshin, the head of the Vaganr Group, Putin's mercenary supply force, and demands to resign from the high command were also shocking. It appears to be an unprecedented challenge to the Kremlin authorities. Prigozhin's mysterious death, however, removed that threat forever, but saw the emergence of other disgruntled hardliners.

Similarly, the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has put an end to criticism of the Kremlin. But thousands of people gathered at his funeral in Moscow and organizers of the "Midday Against Putin" protest on the final day of the presidential election made their displeasure known.

But now Russia has to focus on major terrorist attacks. It has nothing to do with Ukraine or local opposition. Russia has been warned about this by the United States and Western governments at the beginning of March. US officials say they warned Russia of such an attack months in advance.

But for some reason, Putin did not heed the warning of the West. He termed their warning as provocation. Putin said the warning was given to scare and destabilize Russian citizens.

Russia's relationship with the US is now at its worst in history. Therefore, Russia does not trust the United States. In addition, Moscow avoided the US intelligence because it was not clear or there was nothing to take effective action.

But for a leader who has promised to provide security and stability to Russia, such a major terrorist attack on the country's soil is a major shock.