2024-03-26 03:01:00
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Ukraine is behind the terrorist attack carried out on Friday at a concert hall outside Moscow, where 137 people died and which was claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS). Putin acknowledged that the attack was carried out by “radical Islamists,” although he warned that many questions remain unanswered. This weekend, Putin and his security services did not mention jihadist involvement and spoke of the connection with Ukraine. The kyiv government and Western countries strongly deny any Ukrainian involvement in the attack.
Why did they try to go to Ukraine?
“It is important to answer the question of why the terrorists, after their crime, tried to go to Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there?” the Russian president said at a government meeting that was broadcast live on television. Putin also wondered who benefits from an attack that was “an act of intimidation” and that took place just the day after he was declared president-elect.
“The Nazis, as is well known, never had qualms about using the dirtiest and most inhumane means to achieve their objectives,” said Putin, who recalled that just now is when the Ukrainian counteroffensive has “completely” failed, which is why that Ukraine needs to score points with its Western sponsors.
While calling for many questions to be answered, Putin said that the attack on Crocus City Hall is reminiscent of the usual kyiv leitmotif. “This crime may be just one link in a series of attempts by those who have been fighting against our country since 2014 with the hands of the neo-Nazi regime in kyiv,” he said.
Putin denounced the United States’ attempts to “persuade its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to its intelligence data, there is supposedly no trace of Kiev in the Moscow attack, that the bloody act was committed by followers of Islam , members of the organization banned in Russia, Islamic State.”
While ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in several videos, both Ukraine and its Western allies insist on rejecting involvement in the attack and suggest that Russia, instead of looking for false leads, pay attention to its real problems and fight terrorism in his own country. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, said that, after the increase in Russian attacks against Ukraine, it is necessary to accelerate the sending of military aid to Kiev and criticize Putin for linking Ukraine with the attempt.
Doubts about the accused
Three days after the tragedy, many questions remain unanswered, particularly about the identity and motives of the four main suspects. The four individuals, at least one of whom is from Tajikistan, a Central Asian country, were remanded in custody until May 22 and face life in prison.
The Basmanni Court in Moscow decreed this Monday two-month preventive detention for three others involved in the attack. Those arrested are Aminchon Islómov, Dilovar Islómov and Isroil Islómov. Father and his two children, Russian media report. According to the Mediazona portal, Dilovar was the owner until a few days ago of the car in which the attackers fled, a white Renault.
At Crocus City Hall, investigators cleared “90 percent of the debris” from the concert hall, devastated by a gigantic fire set by attackers, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. The number of injured rises to 182, of which 97 were still hospitalized on Monday according to authorities.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov did not comment on allegations of torture by the suspects, who appear with bloodied faces in videos and photos posted on social media. In another video whose authenticity was not confirmed, a person off camera is seen cutting off the ear of what appears to be one of the suspects. During the suspects’ hearing in a Moscow court on Sunday night, one had a white bandage over his ear and another arrived in a wheelchair, with his eyes closed.
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