Ukraine has strongly denied any connection to the attack, saying Russia, whose offensive it has been fighting for more than two years, was just looking for a way to shift blame.
The attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday evening is the bloodiest in Russia in two decades and the deadliest in Europe claimed by the IS group.
The Russian president said in a televised address that the four attackers were arrested “while on their way to Ukraine, where, according to preliminary information (by investigators), a ‘window’ had been prepared for them to cross the border.”
Putin thus supported the version recently put forward by his secret service, the FSB. At no point in his speech did he mention the Islamic State jihadist group’s claim, which was broadcast on Friday evening and repeated on Saturday.
“The attack was carried out by four ISIS militants armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and incendiary bombs,” the jihadist organization said in one of its Telegram accounts, adding that the attack fell in the context of “war.” “with “the countries that fight Islam.”
Putin, recently re-elected for another six years, called the drama a “cruel terrorist attack,” vowed to punish all those responsible and declared Sunday a national day of mourning.
Shortly before, the Kremlin had announced the arrest of eleven people, including “the four terrorists directly involved in the attack.”
These four people were arrested in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine and Belarus, the Russian investigative committee responsible for this type of crime later said.
The attack occurred on Friday before a concert by the Russian rock group Piknik at a concert hall at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a suburb northwest of Moscow.
The FSB stated that the suspects had “contacts” in Ukraine, had faced Russian military intervention since 2022 and planned to flee to that country after the attack, but did not provide evidence of this alleged connection or provide any information to his nature.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podoliak rejected Russia’s accusation and wrote on the social network X that “the versions of the Russian secret services about Ukraine are absolutely untenable and absurd.”
Warnings
The death toll rose to 133 on Saturday, according to authorities, and could rise further as the search continues for several more days in the remains of the building engulfed in flames, whose roof has partially collapsed.
According to investigators, the attackers used automatic weapons and started a large fire with a flammable liquid.
According to the initial findings of the investigation, the people died from “gunshot wounds” and from inhaling smoke from the fire.
Russian media began reporting the attack around 8:15 p.m.
“Shortly before the start (of the concert) we heard machine gun shots and a woman’s terrible scream. And then a lot of screaming,” Alexei, a music producer who was in the dressing rooms, told AFP.
“People were trampling on each other, there was an avalanche,” said Anna, a 40-year-old woman, who explained that she was in the room with her husband, who fell to the floor but was eventually able to escape with her.
IS, which Russia is fighting in Syria and which is also active in the Russian Caucasus, has been carrying out attacks in the country since the late 2010s, but has never claimed responsibility for an attack of this magnitude.
Still, the jihadist group’s claim raises some questions.
According to Russian media and MP Alexander Jinstein, some of the suspects are originally from Tajikistan.
The United States assured on Friday that it had warned Russia in early March of a possible “terrorist” attack at a location in Moscow with “large gatherings of people,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson in Washington.
Russian police and special forces continued to operate outside the burned site on Saturday, where hundreds of rescuers picked up the rubble to search for more victims.
According to images from Russian state media, long queues formed in front of some blood donation centers in Moscow on Saturday morning. Posters reading “We mourn March 22, 2024” also appeared at some bus stops.
Several public events in the country have been canceled, such as the friendly match between the Russian and Paraguayan teams scheduled for Monday in Moscow.
SPRING: AFP
