Reading around on Reddit etc (I know, I know) speculation is still rife that this attack is a false flag, designed and carried out by Russia to tighten support for further mobilisation and an escalation of action in Ukraine, likely as well pinning blame on their collaboration with the west.
The attack in context just makes no sense to me.
Surely, given recent events, a false flag of that nature wouldn't involve a group of armed gunmen storming a theatre in this way, in an attack that carries all the hallmarks of an ISIS style terror attack we've seen before?
Surely a false flag would rather be an escalation of what we've seen before, i.e. missile, bombings or drone attacks on targets inside the russian border, potentially inside Moscow. That would be much easier to fabricate and blame on Ukraine and as a result the West.
This is a tricky storm for Putin to navigate that's for sure. How he plays this is going to tell us a lot.