Director of the Russian Internal Security Services (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said that Ukraine's secret services contributed to the terrorist attack in Moscow which was perpetrated by radical Islamists.
This was reported by the Ria Novosti agency.
Bortnikov said the Crocus City Hall attackers were "trained by Kiev in the Middle East."
The Moscow court dealing with the Crocus City Hall massacre has turned the detention of an eighth suspect in the attack into arrest.
This is Alisher Kasimov, originally from Kyrgyzstan but a Russian citizen.
The man is accused of having rented an apartment to the alleged terrorists, but he said he did so without knowing who they were.
Three days after the massacre, Vladimir Putin returned yesterday to address the Russians, and the whole world, to admit that the attack on the Crocus City Hall was carried out by "Islamic extremists".
But at the same time he relaunched suspicions on Kiev, stating that the investigation will have to find out "who instigated" the massacre.
"We must answer the question why the terrorists were trying to go to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there", said the president in a meeting with his collaborators on the measures to be taken after the attack, whose death toll rose to 139, while around a hundred injured remain hospitalized.
The attack was "an intimidation of Russia and the question arises who benefits from this", he added, accusing the US of "trying to convince everyone" that Kiev had no role in the massacre.
To then order his men to constantly report to him on how the investigations on the arrested terrorists, but also on their "instigators" are progressing.
It is still early to talk about what Russia's reaction will be if Ukraine's participation in Friday's attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow is proven.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Tass.
“An investigation is ongoing, it would not be correct to speculate hypothetically at this time,” the spokesperson said.
Video Massacre in Moscow, procession of citizens to the site of the attack
The four Tajiks accused of being the perpetrators appeared with swollen faces, swollen eyes and one even in a wheelchair before the Moscow court which turned the detention into arrest.
Images broadcast by state television which confirm the rumors of torture suffered by those arrested.
In a video circulated in recent days, the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed, one of the accused has an ear cut off: one of the four appeared in the courtroom with a conspicuous white bandage on one side of his head.
When questioned about the complaints, the Kremlin spokesman declined to comment.
“I leave this question unanswered,” dismissed the matter Dmitry Peskov.
Who did not even want to comment on the possible responsibilities of ISIS, whose Afghan branch claimed responsibility for the massacre.
"There is no evidence that Ukraine is in any way connected to these attacks", reiterated the EU foreign policy spokesperson, Peter Stano, inviting the Russian government "not to use terrorist attacks in Moscow as a pretext or motivation for increasing illegal aggression against Ukraine, nor use it as a pretext for increasing internal repressions."
Antonio Tajani's statements are of the same tone.
"Putin - said the head of the Farnesina - must not use the attack to escalate the conflict and to hit Ukraine more. I repeat, we have no clue that Ukraine was behind the attack".
In Moscow, the one who did not hold back even today in fiery declarations was Dmitry Medvedev.
"Should they be killed?", asked the former president, and then replied without hesitation: "It is necessary. But it is much more important to kill all the people involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathized, those who helped We must kill them all."
Medvedev thus added his voice to those in Parliament and the judiciary, in the emotional wake of the last few days, who have proposed the reinstatement of capital punishment.
But the Vedomosti newspaper points out that even in this case the Crocus attackers would not be able to climb the scaffold.
And this is because even if the reform of the Constitution necessary to return to the death penalty passes, it cannot be applied retroactively.
On the judicial front, the Moscow court dealing with the case transformed the detention of three other suspects, also of Tajik origin, who are not accused of having materially participated in the massacre, into arrest for at least two months.
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The defendants in courts with signs of blows, cuts and possible torture
Swollen faces, with bruises and cut marks, one was even taken to the courtroom in a wheelchair wearing a hospital gown and trousers.
Thus, from the photos circulating in the international media, the four suspects of the Crocus City Hall massacre appear, all accused of terrorism and in precautionary custody until trial.
Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev, 32 years old, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, 30 years old, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25 years old, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, 19 years old, are the names of those arrested, all with Tajik passports.
Fayzov, Skynews reports, was brought to court directly from hospital in a wheelchair, his face with a number of cuts and a nurse remained with him during the hearing.
Pro-Russian Telegram channels published photos of torture during interrogations by security services.
In particular, one photo shows a man lying on the floor with his pants down who appears to be connected with electrical wires to "a TA-57 military communication device, which security forces use to torture with electric shocks," writes Meduza, according to which one of the cables "appears to be connected to the genitals".
Macron: 'Isis K had made several attempts in France'
The branch of the jihadist group of the Islamic State "implicated" in the attack that killed 137 people in Moscow "had carried out several attempts" on French "soil" in recent months: this was declared by French President Emmanuel Macron, after having raised the anti-terrorism alert at its maximum level.
“We have proposed greater cooperation to the Russian services and our partners in the region,” the
French president said upon his arrival in French Guiana.
"We must avoid any exploitation or distortion, but we must be
demanding and effective," he added.
Video Macron: 'ISIS-K had made various attempts in France'
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