Following the Crocus City Hall massacre in Moscow, several false information circulated about the attackers and about Ukraine thanks to Russian propaganda. Next, the Belarusian channel, broadcast another lie, a conspiracy theory according to which the ghosts “men in blue”, probably FSB agents, participated in the massacre undercover. The analysis was made on the simple fact that among the general public there were people dressed in blue sweaters and jeans, but the theory is weak.
For those in a hurry
- The Belarusian channel Nexta claims to have recognized one of the theatergoers among the men who arrested the terrorists. In reality, they are two different people: one has a beard, the other does not.
- The coloring of clothing or people dressed in a similar manner does not demonstrate the involvement of Russian services. Many people inside the theater were dressed the same way, not just in blue.
- Some of the victims were dressed in blue.
- That in the videos they were “calm” is not strange. The scenes filmed concerned the moments preceding the arrival of the terrorists. Everyone started running and screaming after the burst into the theater.
Analyzes
Here is one of the articles that shares the theory:
“The Men in Blue” part 2
We have identified the Russian secret service agents in the “Crocus” room.
Our editorial team continues to analyze photos and videos of the CrocusCityHallAttack terrorist and everything related to him.
In our previous post, we talked about the oddities captured in one of the videos minutes before filming began in the concert hall. It shows several similarly dressed men, wearing sweaters and blue jeans, first looking at each other suspiciously, then beginning to urge the crowd to “shut the doors”, resulting in enormous loss of life.
Our editorial team speculated that these could be FSB officers, due to their bad reputation regarding terrorist attacks in Russia.
By continuing to study open source information, we attempted to identify the “men in blue” who aroused our suspicions. Due to the poor quality of the video, it is difficult to compare the faces of these men with the open database. But we still managed to find an alleged “FSB officer”.
In the concert hall video, at one point, one of the “men in blue” is seen coming down from the top row instead of leaving the hall like everyone else. Then he supports demands to close the doors. His face is clearly visible, so we managed to find a photo of a very similar person in open sources.
This photo was published on the website of the municipal budgetary institution “Sosensky Sports Center”. The photo shows a man receiving a prize for third place in an arm wrestling competition. The composition and general facial features are quite similar to those of one of the “men in blue” from the “Crocus” concert hall.
At this point we came across another “unexpected coincidence”. In the Moscow settlement of Sosenskoye, where this sports center is located, there is the headquarters of Russian foreign intelligence services.
However, the story of the “men in blue” didn’t stop with just one video.
The source is the Belarusian channel Next:
Superficial and meaningless research
Second Next, a man dressed in a blue sweater and jeans was allegedly filmed twice: during the terrorists' assault on Crocus Town Hall and dragging one of the terrorists during the arrest. The two scenes actually represent two different people.
Apart from the haircut, which is not identical, Next Match the two men based on their clothes and a watch. Anyone in Russia could have dressed in this world and risked – starting today – being labeled a Russian agent. The shooter, to the right of the image shared by Next, has his face covered, but it wasn't always like that. From the videos shared by various Telegram channels, such as WarGonzo, it is possible to see that the shooter had a beard.
Victims dressed as “men in blue”
The nuances of clothing and the attitude of some people inside the Moscow theater do not constitute “overwhelming evidence” to confirm that they are men of the Russian services. At an event with thousands of people, the probability of finding people wearing similar clothes and having similar attitudes is practically high. In this shot, relating to one of the many videos released shortly before the massacre, we see other people – men and women – dressed in blue walking calmly and in an orderly manner.
If this had been a way of indicating to the terrorists that they should not hit these people, because they were “accomplices”, the question is refuted thanks to the videos shared on the evening of the massacre. In fact, some people on the ground wear blue sweaters and pants.
The theory of “calm”
There remains the question of the relative calm displayed by the people dressed in blue. They weren't the only ones, there were hundreds of people who were completely calm and headed towards the exit in order. The videos show this, but they take place a few moments before the arrival of the terrorists. Indeed, in the moments that follow, we hear gunshots and the screams of people trying to take shelter or flee.
Conclusions
According to the Belarusian channel Nexta, the presence of the “men in blue” indicates the presence of Russian agents during the Moscow massacre. This is a baseless conspiracy theory where different people have been misidentified.
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