False alarm led to the disconnection of communication in the Moscow metro
January 17 was a very busy day for Russian law enforcement agencies: special services received information from their foreign colleagues about the terrorist act being prepared in Russia on land transport or in the subway . In this regard, security measures were tightened on transport, but in the evening, representatives of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that information about a possible terrorist attack was not confirmed.
One of the measures taken by the security services was the disconnection of cellular communications in the Moscow metro: the FSB sent the corresponding requirements to all the companies working in the metro - VimpelCom (Bee Line brand), MTS and Megafon. The shutdown began at 10 am and should end at 00:00. In addition to Moscow, residents of Samara remained without communication in the subway, but in other major cities, where there is also a subway (in particular, in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg), cell phones in the local "underground" continued to work.
Meanwhile, experts doubt the effectiveness of preventing terrorist attacks by turning off cellular communications. “Certainly, depriving terrorists of communications is an important task for the special services,” said coordinator of the Society of Consumers of Mobile Communications, Andrei Timoshin. “However, I am afraid that if someone really planned a terrorist act, the disconnection of communications would not be able to stop them, since the terrorists would find other ways of interacting with each other.”
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“Of course, we don’t know what kind of operational information the FSB was guided by when making this decision,” said Alexander Malis, vice president of the Corbina Telecom company . - Perhaps, according to their data, the terrorists were going to activate an explosive device with a cell phone. But, nevertheless, forcing operators to turn off cellular communications in the subway looks rather strange, because terrorists could have resorted to other methods, such as the clockwork mechanism. ”
“It is more likely that the secret services did not want to give relatives of possible victims to call them in case of a terrorist act,” sums up Malis. Similarly, law enforcement agencies already arrived in 2003, when after the terrorist attack that occurred during a rock concert at the Tushino airfield, mobile communications were cut off in the area. As a result, the majority of those present at the concert did not know what had happened (they could learn about it from the phone calls of their relatives and friends) and, thus, managed to avoid a crush.
One of the measures taken by the security services was the disconnection of cellular communications in the Moscow metro: the FSB sent the corresponding requirements to all the companies working in the metro - VimpelCom (Bee Line brand), MTS and Megafon. The shutdown began at 10 am and should end at 00:00. In addition to Moscow, residents of Samara remained without communication in the subway, but in other major cities, where there is also a subway (in particular, in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg), cell phones in the local "underground" continued to work.
Meanwhile, experts doubt the effectiveness of preventing terrorist attacks by turning off cellular communications. “Certainly, depriving terrorists of communications is an important task for the special services,” said coordinator of the Society of Consumers of Mobile Communications, Andrei Timoshin. “However, I am afraid that if someone really planned a terrorist act, the disconnection of communications would not be able to stop them, since the terrorists would find other ways of interacting with each other.”
')
“Of course, we don’t know what kind of operational information the FSB was guided by when making this decision,” said Alexander Malis, vice president of the Corbina Telecom company . - Perhaps, according to their data, the terrorists were going to activate an explosive device with a cell phone. But, nevertheless, forcing operators to turn off cellular communications in the subway looks rather strange, because terrorists could have resorted to other methods, such as the clockwork mechanism. ”
“It is more likely that the secret services did not want to give relatives of possible victims to call them in case of a terrorist act,” sums up Malis. Similarly, law enforcement agencies already arrived in 2003, when after the terrorist attack that occurred during a rock concert at the Tushino airfield, mobile communications were cut off in the area. As a result, the majority of those present at the concert did not know what had happened (they could learn about it from the phone calls of their relatives and friends) and, thus, managed to avoid a crush.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/4961/
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