Activists treat dispatch of messages about prepared terror act in Sochi as provocation

On June 16, a message about prepared terror act in Sochi was dispatched through the messenger WhatsApp, Arsen Vishnevsky, an activist, reports. He has noted that the message "was circulated with reference to the FSB on the letter form of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Sochikholod".

In his turn, Vachagan Denisov, the Chief of Staff of OJSC "Sochikholod", said, in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, that "the message was sent out as part of exercises." "The message was dispatched among the participants of the exercises; however, it was spread, as we see, not only among them," said Mr Denisov.

However, Sochi activists have stated to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the message was dispatched deliberately "with the aim in any way to bring down the protest activity during the matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup in Sochi."

"For some reason, all these messages were spread in the chats of the activists, traced by the police. I personally read this message in my chat room and immediately realized that it was sent by provocateurs," Anastasia Titova, the head of the territorial branch of the "Progress Party", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Margarita Golitsina, another activist, has also reported that she had "received a message about the prepared terror act in Sochi to her WhatsApp chat room."

"I understood at once that this was a provocation, aimed to intimidate activists. All the activists, whom I know, received such messages to their chat rooms. I was not surprised: power agents are purposefully trying to intimidate the activists, who oppose corruption," Ms Golitsina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.