Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted on Monday, the 25th of March, that Islamist militants were behind the deadly attack at a concert near Moscow, pointing to the possible involvement of Ukraine, while France and the US attributed responsibility to ISIS based on intelligence reports, as reported by Reuters.
“We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists,” Putin was quoted as saying on television after a videoconference meeting with regional officials, special services, and law enforcement agencies, adding that the ideology followed by the attackers had been “fought by the Muslim world for centuries”.
“The question is, who benefits from this?” Putin was quoted. “This atrocious crime is probably just a stage in a whole series of attempts by those waging war against our country since 2014 at the hands of the neo-Nazi Kiyv regime.”
“We know who has committed the crime against Russia and its people, but we are interested in who ordered it.”
Putin said the attack was aimed at “sowing panic”. But with Russian forces advancing on the Ukrainian front line, he said it could have been meant to “show its people that the Kiyv regime has not yet lost”.
In a video address last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised Putin’s comments, saying that the Kremlin leader “has everyone as a terrorist except himself, even though he has been successfully using terrorism for two decades”.
“When he is gone, the need for terror and violence will disappear with him”, Zelenskyy said.
The US is convinced that ISIS was responsible for the attack, with White House spokesman John Kirby saying that
the US has been closely monitoring ISIS activities and warned Russia of the threat earlier this month.
French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that the information available “does indeed indicate that this attack was carried out by ISIS”.
He said that the group had also tried to operate in France and that he had offered to help identify the perpetrators. Macron warned against taking advantage of the situation to create tensions with Ukraine, stressing that the security of all citizens was a priority.
Putin announced that 11 people had been detained, including four suspected attackers who he said had travelled to the Bryansk region to try to flee to Ukraine.
Last Friday’s attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow was the deadliest attack in Russia in 20 years, killing at least 139 people.
Hundreds of Russians have laid flowers at Crocus City Hall in memory of the victims.
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