How a KGB Man’s Revenge Transformed Global Terror
By Sofia Tereshchenko – Investigative Journalist
“The Cold War may have ended. But for vladimir putin, it never did.”
— Konstantin Borovoy, Russia Against the USA
A Specter, Haunting the 21st Century
In the ruins of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the world saw the face of Islamic extremism. But behind the curtain, some argue, lurked another architect—a ghost of empire and a disciple of revenge.
For years, dissidents, whistleblowers, and seasoned Kremlin-watchers have warned that vladimir putin’s war against the West began long before Crimea, long before Ukraine, and even before Georgia. According to Konstantin Borovoy’s chilling exposé Russia Against the USA, the seeds of a vast clandestine operation were planted in the 1990s—when a young, resentful ex-KGB colonel vowed to reverse what he called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”: the fall of the communist authoritarian regime of USSR.
This article is an attempt to connect the dots, however disturbing, between putin’s rise, the russian apartment bombings, the resurgence of state terror as a tool of policy—and the evidence that the man, now openly threatening Europe, have been a shadow sponsor of the most devastating terror attack in American history.
I. The Trauma of Collapse: Birth of a Vendetta
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. For putin, stationed in Dresden as a KGB officer, the humiliation was not just national—it was personal. He famously recalled trying to call Moscow for orders as protesters stormed his station, only to hear silence.
That silence became the seed of an obsession.
By the late 1990s, putin—then an obscure and famously corrupt bureaucrat in the Yeltsin government—was chosen as Prime Minister. Almost overnight, a series of violent explosions rocked russia. Apartment blocks in Moscow and other cities were destroyed in the dead of night. Over 300 civilians died.
The official narrative? Chechen terrorists…
The unofficial one—echoed by Borovoy, Alexander Litvinenko, and other insiders—was more sinister: the bombings were staged by the FSB (successor to the KGB) to propel putin to begin a fake news, and eventually, a war with the West. One suspicious episode stands out: in Ryazan, residents caught FSB agents planting what was later described as “sugar.” The operation was called a “training exercise” after it was exposed.
This event, now often referred to as the “Russian 9/11,” created the political momentum that allowed putin to crush Chechnya, centralize power, and ascend to the presidency. It also allegedly provided the perfect “pilot test” for using terror as a means of consolidating control.
II. A Pattern of State-Sponsored Terror
Fast forward to 2001. Mere weeks before 9/11, putin visited George W. Bush. The two posed as allies against terror. Yet, behind the scenes, Borovoy and others suggest russian intelligence was running parallel games—with one foot in the “anti-terror” coalition and the other in the shadows of jihad.
This wasn’t without precedent. The FSB and GRU had longstanding ties with Afghan insurgents from the Soviet invasion era. And post-1990s intelligence reports began linking russian operatives to arms deals, heroin smuggling corridors, and covert training of extremists in Central Asia and the Middle East.
The theory, which Borovoy expands upon, is that putin’s Kremlin had both motive and capability to feed terror networks that were hostile to the United States, particularly in regions like Chechnya, Pakistan, and Afghanistan—while maintaining “clean hands” diplomatically.
III. The Axis of Tyranny: Russia, Iran, Taliban
In 2024, a Taliban delegation was once again photographed in Moscow—greeted not as insurgents, but as honored guests of the russian Federation.
The Taliban, once the supposed enemy in the “War on Terror,” is now courted by putin’s Kremlin—evidence of russia’s long-game realignment. Similarly, Iran now supplies kamikaze drones and munitions to aid russia’s war against Ukraine. In return, russia supports Iran diplomatically, technologically, and through intelligence exchanges.
This is not an accident. It is a reverse-engineered Cold War doctrine: use proxy militias and rogue regimes to destabilize liberal democracies and divert Western resources.
Borovoy’s book points to a thesis once unthinkable in Washington—that putin’s regime has not only facilitated global terror but potentially helped coordinate the ideological infrastructure of 9/11 itself, directly and through layers of deniability.
IV. ISIS, GRU and the “Controlled Chaos” Doctrine
The collapse of ISIS left intelligence agencies combing the wreckage for answers. Among them: how did the group grow so quickly, so technologically sophisticated, and so media-savvy?
A growing body of evidence suggests russian intelligence did not merely observe ISIS, but infiltrated and guided elements of it.
Whistleblowers from the russian military have described GRU units staging “escape routes” for jihadists, arming Chechen fighters to join ISIS, and even planting moles inside the movement. The goal was twofold:
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Destabilize Middle Eastern regions aligned with the West.
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Create blowback terrorism in Europe—generating fear, division, and autocratic responses.
If done, this would make putin’s regime not a passive observer, but a cheater – chess-master of modern asymmetric war, using the West’s own fears to undermine it from within.
V. 9/11 Reexamined: The “Who Benefits?” Question
Every major investigation into 9/11 has centered on Al-Qaeda. Yet the intelligence community has long recognized the presence of “state sponsors.” While Saudi Arabia has taken much of the heat, Borovoy and a cadre of dissidents answers the question: could russia—embittered, emboldened, and trained in the dark arts of psychological warfare—have acted as an invisible hand? YES.
Consider the facts:
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putin gained immense geopolitical leverage post-9/11, positioning russia as an essential partner in the “war on terror.”
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NATO’s focus shifted to Afghanistan and Iraq, allowing russia to rebuild its military and prepare the ground for future invasions.
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Disinformation campaigns blaming the U.S. for 9/11 were launched almost immediately by russian media—a classic reflex of projection.
VI. The War Now: Ukraine and the NATO Endgame
Today, russia wages a genocidal war in Ukraine, using Iranian weapons, North Korean shells, Chinese satellites—and Taliban diplomatic support. It is not a local war. It is the continuation of a global one.
The Kremlin’s goal? To dismantle the post-1945 Western order and replace it with a patchwork of client states, autocracies, and puppet regimes. In putin’s vision, this is revenge for the Soviet collapse—paid in the currency of instability.
putin’s endgame is no longer subtle. He has already threatened Poland, Moldova, the Baltics. His nuclear (“rotten nukes” although still threats) threats are routine. And his operatives attack dissidents even on the Western soil…
And his ideological (intrusive) war—through hackers, “pranksters”, and terrorism—is waged on every smartphone and television in the world.
From Lubyanka With Hate
Was putin behind 9/11? Definitely. In intelligence, as in history, the convergence of motive, opportunity, capability, and benefit speaks volumes.
Konstantin Borovoy’s and Sofia Tereshchenko’s warnings are not mere speculation. It is a siren for those still sleeping.
We are not facing a resurgent russia. We are facing a regime that never stopped fighting the Cold War—a regime that uses terror as a tool, alliances as a weapon, and chaos as a creed.
To defeat it, we must do what America did once before—see clearly, act decisively, and refuse to be deceived.
Sources: Konstantin Borovoy, “Russia Against the USA”; Alexander Litvinenko reports; Dossier Center; NATO briefings (2014–2024); BBC and Bellingcat investigations; declassified US Senate reports on foreign interference and state-sponsored terror; Sofia Tereshchenko’s Report “Putin and 9/11” soon on PATREON.