Russia's FSB Detains Teenager Over Threat to Tsaritsyno Museum Park in Moscow
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on 1 November it had detained a minor after a US warning about a terror threat to the Tsaritsyno museum-reserve in Moscow. The teenager had posted TikTok photos showing an object resembling an automatic weapon and images of the site.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Sunday, 1 November, that it had detained a minor who is a Russian citizen. The arrest followed a check of information from US intelligence services about a terror threat to the Tsaritsyno museum-reserve in Moscow. The FSB worked together with the National Guard (Rosgvardia), the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee. The announcement was reported by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
What the FSB says it found
According to the agency, the teenager posted photos on TikTok showing himself in tactical clothing, a balaclava, a cap, glasses and headphones, holding an object resembling an automatic weapon. He also posted pictures taken at Tsaritsyno captioned "I found a place".
At his home, officers reportedly found an airsoft weapon, the clothing and accessories seen in the photos. The FSB said his communication devices revealed the TikTok account from which threats were posted, a subscription to a neo-Nazi Telegram channel, and a significant number of searches about past terror attacks, mass killings and other violent acts. The FSB thanked its US counterparts for the information.
Earlier warnings
On 31 October, the US Embassy in Russia published a warning on its website about a credible threat that could cause mass casualties that day at Tsaritsyno, and urged people to avoid the area. The German Embassy in Moscow also warned German citizens of an urgent security threat; Germany's Foreign Ministry confirmed this to DW on request.
Russian-language Telegram channels reported that the park was closed on the evening of 31 October, with dog handlers and special police regiment officers on site. According to Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the museum-reserve operated as normal on the morning of 1 November.
The source also recalls an April 2024 report by The Washington Post that the US had passed information about a threat to the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk to Russian security services before the attack there.
