Russian President Vladimir Putin Reluctant to Follow Western Narrative – 2024-03-26 00:49:48

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the four perpetrators of the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall extremists. (AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the four perpetrators of the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall were extremists with a radical ideology. Their attacks killed 137 people last week.

Putin made this statement in a meeting with Russian government officials. He said last week’s massacre was carried out by extremists whose ideology they have been fighting for for centuries.

Putin, who said the four attackers were captured while trying to flee to Ukraine, did not mention the affiliation of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, known as ISIS-K. In fact, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack on the Crocus City Hall building near Moscow.

Putin tried not to follow the narrative of Western countries by not mentioning the name ISIS or ISIS-K in his latest speech on Monday (25/3). Western countries, especially the United States (US), immediately accused the four perpetrators of being affiliated with ISIS.

Putin also did not say who ordered the attack. But he said it was important to find out why the terrorists tried to flee to Ukraine after the attack, and who was waiting for them there.

French President Emmanuel Macron also said France had intelligence indicating the Islamic State entity was responsible for the attack in Moscow.

Also read: ISIS Claims Responsibility for Weapons Attacks in Russia

Previously, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to blame any particular party, and urged journalists to wait for the results of the investigation in Russia. He also declined to comment on reports that the US had warned authorities in Moscow on March 7 of a possible terrorist attack.

Peskov said the intelligence information was confidential. Then after Putin spoke, calls rose in Russia to harshly punish those behind Moscow’s attacks.

Four men were charged by a Moscow court on Sunday (24/3) evening with terrorism charges. When they appeared in court, they showed signs of being severely beaten.

Civil liberties groups said it was a sign that Russia’s poor record on human rights under Putin would only get worse.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the investigation was still ongoing, but promised that the perpetrators would be punished, and that they deserved no mercy. (inews.co.uk/Z-3)