Today, the consensus among independent Russia experts is that the apartment bombings were orchestrated by the FSB to consolidate Vladimir Putin’s ascent to power. The bombings appear to have been a peculiar hybrid: both a false-flag operation designed to pin the blame for the terrorist attack on an innocent party and a murderous type of active measure, with control of the Russian state at stake. What cannot be disputed is that the wave of nationalist fervor that followed the apartment bombings and Putin’s war on Chechen separatism led to his undisputed control of Russia.
