President Vladimir Putin promised to find and punish those responsible for the crime after Russia announced on Saturday that all four gunmen accused of carrying out a shooting atrocity in a music hall close to Moscow had been apprehended.
Although the militant Islamist group Islamic State strongly denied any involvement from Kyiv, there were signs that Moscow was looking into a possible Ukrainian connection. This was in relation to Friday’s assault.
According to the State Investigative Committee of Russia, 133 people have died. Without providing a source, State TV editor Margarita Simonyan had previously provided a toll of 143.
Putin said in a live speech that 11 people, including the four gunmen, had been taken into custody. “They made an attempt to hide and made their way to Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” he said.
The shooters were apprehended close to the border and had links to Ukraine, according to the FSB security service. They were reportedly being moved to Moscow.
While Russia has been at war with Ukraine over the past 25 months, neither Putin nor the FSB have openly provided any evidence of a connection to the country.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, told Reuters: “Naturally, Ukraine had nothing to do with this terrorist incident. Ukraine is reclaiming its own territory, battling the occupiers’ army and military targets—not civilians—while defending its sovereignty against Russian invaders.”
“Of course another fabrication from the Russian special services,” he continued, referring to the FSB’s claim that the suspects were apprehended while traveling to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned a terrorist attack on concert-goers in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, calling it “international terrorism.” He stated that all perpetrators, organizers, and those who ordered the attack will be punished. The attack resulted in 28 deaths and 14 injuries, with 28 bodies found in a toilet and 14 on a staircase. The attackers fled in a Renault vehicle spotted by police in the Bryansk region, about 340 km southwest of Moscow. A car chase ensued after they disobeyed orders to stop. A pistol, a magazine for an assault rifle, and passports from Tajikistan were found in the car.
The Kremlin said Putin had held conversations with Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan leaders, in which all sides affirmed their willingness to work together to fight terrorism. Long lines formed in Moscow on Saturday for people to donate blood, and more than 120 people were wounded. Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group’s Amaq agency said its fighters attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction before they withdrew to their bases safely.
The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the shooting. The United Nations Security Council condemned the attack as “heinous and cowardly.” Russia tightened security at airports, transport hubs, and across the capital, a vast urban area of more than 21 million people, and big public events were cancelled across the country.
(Reuters)
