Terrorist attack in Moscow: the attackers tried to flee to Ukraine, blames Vladimir Putin

The investigation has not yet been completed, and Moscow is already pointing its finger at Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin assured on Saturday that “all four perpetrators” of the armed attack that killed 133 people in a Moscow suburb on Friday were arrested as they “headed towards Ukraine,” without once commenting on a statement by the Islamic State jihadist group. grouping.” State (IS). He also condemned the “barbaric terrorist” act and “bloody massacre,” expressing his “heartfelt condolences” to the relatives and victims and declaring a day of national mourning on Sunday.

The gunmen, four of them, according to authorities, opened fire and then set the Crocus City Hall building on fire just before the concert, killing at least 115 people. “They were heading towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data (investigations), window they were being prepared to cross the border,” accused Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader assured that “those who are behind these terrorists will be punished” and that “an enviable fate does not await them.” “This is a deliberate mass murder, they were determined to shoot our citizens, just as the Nazis at that time shot people in our occupied territories,” he also accused.

He never mentioned ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the shooting, the country’s deadliest in two decades and the deadliest the jihadist group has claimed since the 2015 Paris attacks.

“Absurd” accusations according to Kyiv

Vladimir Putin’s version of events has previously been presented by his security services (FSB). In the morning, they also said that the suspects had “contacts” in Ukraine and intended to travel there, without any evidence of these alleged connections. They only indicated that they had arrested four alleged attackers in the Bryansk region, bordering Belarus and Ukraine, as they tried to escape in a car.

Chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, deputy Andrei Kartapolov, also believes that Ukraine’s participation “is not excluded.” The day before, the former president and current vice-president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, also promised to “destroy” the “terrorists of the Kyiv regime” if it turns out that they were involved in the execution.

Ukraine has rejected a barrage of accusations that criticized the “absurd” remarks. “Ukraine has nothing to do with this incident,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak said on Saturday. After the attack, he already assured that his country “has nothing to do” with this “terrorist act.” The pro-Ukrainian militant unit behind recent armed incursions into Russian territory has denied any responsibility for the attack. Ukrainian military intelligence accused “Russian intelligence services” of being behind the attack in Moscow with the aim of “blaming Ukraine, provoking an “escalation” and “expanding” its attack on its neighbor.

During his speech, which was quoted by the Russian TASS agency in its Telegram channel, Vladimir Putin also announced that he was declaring “March 24 a day of national mourning” and called on the population to maintain unity. “The common duty of Russians now is to unite, and so it will be. No one can shake the unity of Russian citizens,” he said.

The head of the Kremlin added that the Russian special services are “working to identify accomplices of terrorists”: the special services are looking for “those who provided them with transport, traced escape routes from the crime scene, prepared hiding places, caches of weapons” and ammunition,” he detailed, as quoted by The Guardian. He also said that “additional anti-terrorism measures” have been introduced “in Moscow and other regions” of the country.