In Russia, President Putin and the FSB continue to blame Ukraine and Western countries for the Moscow Concert Hall attack, despite ISIS claiming responsibility. The FSB head alleges Ukrainian, US, and UK involvement without providing evidence. Putin also implicates Ukraine, though they deny any connection. Belarusian President Lukashenko questions the narrative, suggesting the attackers tried to enter Belarus. The attack left 139 dead, with suspects facing terrorism charges.
2 min read 2024-03-28, 11:50 PM IST
SummaryPutin and FSB blame Ukraine and the West for the attack. ISIS claims responsibility, but Russia disregards it. FSB accuses Ukraine, US, and UK without evidence. Ukraine denies involvement, calls Russia’s claims “sick and cynical.” Lukashenko suggests attackers targeted Belarus. Attack resulted in 139 deaths; suspects face terrorism charges. |
Shifting our focus to Russia, President Putin persists in deflecting blame from the Moscow Concert Hall attack onto Ukraine and the West, despite the Islamic State claiming responsibility for the massacre. The head of Russia’s most powerful Security Agency, the FSB, has asserted that he believes Ukraine, along with the United States and Britain, were involved in the attack that claimed the lives of at least 139 people. However, he provided no evidence to support these claims.
ALSO READ: ISIS Claims Responsibility for Moscow Concert Hall Attack.
We believe that the action was prepared by both the Islamist radicals themselves and was facilitated by Western special services. As for the Ukrainian intelligence services, they are directly involved in that. I think that it is true generally; we think that they are involved, depending on how the investigation goes, we will receive the corresponding facts.
Now, all I can say is that the preliminary information that we have received points to the involvement of that side in preparing that action—let’s say, they were getting ready for it because the suspects were leaving for Ukraine. Those are the facts we have received after working with the detained suspects,” the FSB head stated.
These allegations echo similar ones made earlier by President Vladimir Putin, who linked the attack to Ukraine, despite acknowledging that the suspects were radical Islamists. In a televised address, Putin mentioned that the attackers had attempted to flee to Ukraine.
However, Kiev has repeatedly denied any connection to Friday’s attack and dismissed Russia’s accusations as outright lies. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has labeled Putin’s claims as “sick and cynical,” suggesting that Russia is making such assertions to drum up fervor as its forces continue to fight in Ukraine.
Britain has deemed Moscow’s claims as utter nonsense, while the United States had actually warned Moscow of an imminent attack 15 days earlier. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, has also cast doubt on the Russian narrative, hinting that the attackers initially tried to cross into Belarus, not Ukraine.
ALSO READ: Putin Addresses Nation Before Presidential Polls, Vows to Forge Ahead Together.
On Friday, four armed men stormed into the Crocus City Hall and opened fire, resulting in the deaths of 139 people, with another 22 in critical condition. Four suspects accused of carrying out the massacre appeared in court bearing signs of severe beatings and have been remanded in pre-trial custody. They face terrorism charges, while four other suspects are accused of aiding the suspected terrorists.
Moscow, Russia| Russia asserted Thursday that it possessed evidence connecting the perpetrators of the recent concert hall massacre near Moscow to “Ukrainian nationalists,” a claim dismissed as baseless by the United States. President Vladimir Putin and Russian security services persist in alleging involvement of Kyiv and Western entities in last Friday’s attack, despite an Islamic State affiliate claiming responsibility.
Putin disclosed on Saturday that authorities had detained 11 individuals following the gunmen’s assault on Crocus City Hall, where they set the venue ablaze and claimed the lives of at least 143 individuals.
Russia’s Investigative Committee stated on Thursday that evidence linking the detained terrorists to Ukrainian nationalists had been obtained through an examination of seized technical devices and analysis of financial transactions.
The committee alleged that the suspects had received significant funds, including cryptocurrency, from Ukraine, and identified another individual allegedly involved in financing the terrorists, who has been detained pending court proceedings.
Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed the accusations as absurd. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby criticized Russia’s claims, likening them to “manure salesmen” engaging in propaganda.
The four suspected assailants, visibly injured, appeared in a Moscow courtroom on Sunday, all hailing from Tajikistan according to Russian media reports. While Russia’s FSB security service claimed they were apprehended while attempting to flee to Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested they were initially headed for Belarus.
Despite Islamic State jihadists claiming responsibility multiple times since the attack, and IS-affiliated media channels releasing graphic videos of the gunmen at the venue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not indicate on Thursday whether President Putin planned to visit the families of the victims. While Putin was seen lighting a candle for the victims at a Moscow church, he has not visited the site of the massacre or publicly met with any victims.
When asked about Putin’s plans to meet with the families of the deceased or to visit Crocus City Hall, Peskov stated that if such contacts were necessary, they would inform accordingly, but there were no current plans for Putin to do so.
