Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to connect the assailants who attacked and killed at least 130 people in a Moscow concert hall to Ukraine in comments made after the deadliest assault on the capital city in ten years.
Accusations of Ukraine’s participation emerged after the assault, and Putin repeated the allegations in his speech, stating that the attackers were heading towards the embattled country and a pathway was arranged for them to cross the border.
“All four main instigators of the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, were located and apprehended,” Putin said in his speech on Saturday. “They attempted to hide and were heading towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary information, a route was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.”
Russian authorities have arrested 11 individuals linked to the incident, including four directly involved in the most deadly act of terrorism in Russia’s capital city in over a decade.
Ukraine and U.S. officials have rejected any involvement in the Friday assault near Russia’s capital city, Moscow. The attackers targeted people in the Crocus City complex just before Russian rock band Piknik was scheduled to perform. Around 140 individuals were also injured.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, refuted the country’s involvement in the assault.
“Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with the shooting/explosions in the Crocus City Hall (Moscow Region, Russia),” Podolyak said on Friday. “It makes no sense whatsoever.”
John Kirby, White House national security adviser, also rejected the speculation of Ukraine’s involvement in one of the deadliest incidents Moscow had in the last two decades.
“The images are just horrible. Just hard to watch, and our thoughts obviously are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack,” Kirby said Friday. “No indication at this time that Ukraine or Ukrainians were involved in the shooting.”
Putin did not specifically mention the Islamic State in his speech, despite the group’s claims it was behind the assault on Friday. The Islamic State has been planning an attack in Russia, according to one U.S. official told The New York Times. U.S. officials also informed their Russian counterparts about the possibility of an attack in the country, the outlet reported.
