The terrorist attack in Moscow is a planned and deliberate provocation of the Russian special services at the order of Putin, its goal is to justify even harsher attacks on Ukraine and total mobilization in the Russian Federation, according to a statement by the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, published on Friday evening.

"The public execution of people in Moscow should be understood as Putin's threat of an even greater escalation and expansion of the war. Peskov's statement about 'war,' made shortly before the terrorist attack, is just a false start of a carefully planned Kremlin special operation," the Agency said in a message on Telegram.

As noted in the statement, Putin "has extensive experience in organizing such terrorist attacks as a way of strengthening his own power, starting with the bombing of houses on the Kashirskoye Highway. As then, today's action of intimidation of Russians will be a reason for the maximum 'tightening of the screws' on Russia itself."

It is emphasized that the Kremlin can blame Ukraine for organizing the terrorist attack and use the execution of its own citizens as a pretext for even more brutal attacks on civilian infrastructure and the killing of Ukrainian civilians.

"Putin has repeatedly tried to intimidate the West, including by using nuclear weapons. Therefore, this terrorist attack can be used as another 'ground' for increasing aggression," the report says.

The Agency also draws attention to the fact that "the unhindered movement of a group of militants with machine guns in the center of Moscow, as well as a lot of other indisputable evidence, indicate that the shooting at Crocus City Hall was organized by Russian special services. International embassies also warned about the impending terrorist attack."