Vice President Kamala Harris promptly dismissed assertions from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine might be implicated in the terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of over 130 individuals at a Moscow concert hall on Saturday.
The U.S. government and Western allies stated that ISIS was responsible for the attack, the largest by the group in years and the deadliest in Moscow in over a decade.
“No, there is no, whatsoever, any evidence [of Ukraine involvement],” Harris said in an ABC interview with Rachel Scott on Sunday. “In fact, what we know to be the case is that ISIS-K is actually by all accounts responsible for what happened.”
Putin claimed that the four detained gunmen were planning to flee to Ukraine, where there were other terrorists in the group. Russian authorities have arrested 11 people in connection to the shooting.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, denied the country’s involvement in the attack.
“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.”
Harris also sent condolences on Sunday.
“What has happened in the act of terrorism and the number of people who’ve been killed is obviously a tragedy, and we should all send our condolences to those families,” she said.
