MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials continued to claim on Tuesday that Ukraine and the West played a role in the deadly Moscow concert hall attack last week, even though Kyiv denied involvement and an Islamic State group affiliate claimed responsibility.
Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, made similar accusations to President Vladimir Putin without presenting any evidence, linking the attack to Ukraine despite acknowledging that the arrested suspects were “radical Islamists.”
The IS affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack, and U.S. intelligence confirmed the group's involvement. French President Emmanuel Macron also stated that France has intelligence suggesting that an IS group is responsible for the attack.
Despite the indications pointing to IS, Putin insisted on Ukrainian involvement, a claim rejected by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who accused the Kremlin leader of attempting to stir up fervor as his forces fight in Ukraine.
Bortnikov suggested that Western spy agencies and Ukrainian special services could have been involved in the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in two decades, despite acknowledging receiving a U.S. tip about the attack.
“We believe that radical Islamists carried out the attack, while Western special services assisted it and Ukrainian special services were directly involved,” Bortnikov said without providing details.
He reiterated Putin’s claim that the four gunmen were attempting to escape to Ukraine when they were arrested, presenting it as evidence of Ukrainian involvement.
However, Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko slightly undermined that assertion by stating that the suspects were heading for Ukraine because they feared strict controls at the Belarus border.
Russia is still grappling with the attack on Friday, in which gunmen killed 139 people at the Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow. Health officials reported that about 90 people are still in the hospital, with 22 of them, including two children, in critical condition.
The four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and displayed signs of severe beatings. One of them seemed barely conscious during the hearing.
Authorities stated that the men are citizens of Tajikistan and were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They have been charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
A senior Turkish security official confirmed on Tuesday that two of the suspects spent a “short amount of time” in Turkey before traveling together to Russia on March 2.
One of the suspects, Fariduni, entered Turkey on Feb. 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbul’s Fatih district the next day, and checked out on Feb. 27, the official said. The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on Jan. 5, checking out on Jan. 21.
An official stated that Turkish authorities believe the two people "became radicalized in Russia" because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make public statements.
The Islamic State group, which lost much of its territory after Russia's military action in Syria, has always targeted Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian jetliner over the Sinai desert, killing all 224 people aboard, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russia's unstable Caucasus and other regions in recent years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
On Monday, Putin warned that more attacks could follow, alleging possible Western involvement. He didn't mention the warning about a possible imminent terrorist attack that the U.S. shared confidentially with Moscow two weeks before the raid.
Three days before the attack, Putin criticized the U.S. Embassy's March 7 notice urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, calling it an attempt to scare Russians and “blackmail” the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.
Bortnikov said Russia appreciated the warning but described it as very general.
“The information about preparations for terror attacks in large gatherings of people was of a general nature,” he said. “Of course, we reacted to that information and took corresponding measures to prevent such incidents.”
He added that the FSB acted on the tip, targeting a group of suspects he didn’t identify but which eventually proved false.
“We are thankful, of course, but we would like to see more specifics,” Bortnikov said.
__
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.
