Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged this Monday that last Friday's attack on a Moscow concert hall, where more than 130 people died, claimed by the ISIS k group,
was committed by "radical Islamists"
but he hinted again that
they could have
relationship with Ukraine.
This Tuesday the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexandr Bórtnikov, went a step further and accused Ukraine of
having participated "directly" and the West of being involved
in the attack.
"We consider that the act was prepared by radical Islamists and, naturally,
Western secret services contributed to it
," Bortnikov told local agencies, adding that Ukrainian intelligence services
had a "direct relationship" with the attack.
He then admitted that Moscow has not yet been able to establish with certainty the identity of those who commissioned the attack and that all the information available to the security services is of a "general nature."
A woman leaves flowers in tribute to the victims.
Photo: Reuters
"Broadly speaking, we consider that they are involved in it," he stressed, responding to a question about kyiv's responsibility.
He stressed that the FSB knows that "the Ukrainian side
participated in the instruction and training
of fighters in the Middle East."
"The bandits had the intention of fleeing across the border. Right into the territory of Ukraine. According to our preliminary operational data, they were waiting for them there (...) And I'll tell you a secret:
on the other side they wanted to receive them as heroes
," he explained.
He advocated declaring the Security Service of Ukraine
(SBU) a "terrorist organization" and considered
the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirilo Budánov, a "
legitimate target."
Bortnikov admitted that the United States
warned them about a possible terrorist attack in Moscow
, but added that he would have liked the information "to be more concrete."
He recalled that the same thing happened in 2017 when a suicide attack killed 16 people in the St. Petersburg subway.
The head of the FSB made these statements after Putin suggested on Monday the existence of a black Ukrainian hand in the attack, despite the fact that the attack
was immediately claimed by Isis.
Putin refused to accept outright the hypothesis that the attack was the work of the Islamic State.
Photo: Sergei GUNEYEV / AFP
"And the Nazis, as is well known, have never had qualms about using the dirtiest and most inhumane means to achieve their objectives," he said during a meeting with members of the Government and security forces that was broadcast live on the television.
Russia accuses Volodymyr Zelensky's government of being "Nazi", even though he is Jewish.
Putin refused to accept at face value
the hypothesis presented by Western intelligence services
that the attack was the work of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISPK).
Both the United States and the European Union have urged the Kremlin to
rule out Ukraine's involvement
in Friday's terrorist attack as a hypothesis.
The Basmanni Court in Moscow decreed this Tuesday the preventive detention of two months for an eighth suspect involved in the terrorist attack.
Video
A group of people dressed in camouflage entered the venue with assault weapons and opened fire just before the start of the Picnic group's concert, at 8:00 p.m. in Moscow.
This is Alisher Kasimov, 32, a Russian citizen of Kyrgyz origin who, according to the investigation,
rented his apartment to the alleged perpetrators of the massacre.
According to the latest official data, the attack in the city of Krasnogorsk, about 20 kilometers northwest of the center of Moscow, has left
at least 139 dead and 182 injured.
With agency information