Russia assured on Thursday, March 28, that it had evidence that the perpetrators of the massacre at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, which left more than 140 dead, were linked to “Ukrainian nationalists”, a claim that the United States described as “folly”. For its part, the Islamic State jihadist group, which claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow, called on its members on Thursday to carry out new attacks against Jews and Christians, especially in Europe, Israel and the United States.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his security services continue to claim that kyiv and the West were involved somehow in the March 22 attack near Moscow, despite the fact that a cell of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility.
Putin said last Saturday that 11 people had been arrested after gunmen stormed Crocus City Hall, setting the building on fire and killing more than 140 people.
“As a result of the work with the detained terrorists, the examination of the technical devices seized from them and the analysis of information on financial transactions, evidence has been obtained of their links with Ukrainian nationalists,” said this Thursday, March 28, the Russian Investigative Committee.
The committee stated that the suspects had received “significant amounts of money and cryptocurrencies from Ukraine” and noted that another man “involved in financing terrorists” had been identified and arrested.
“Investigators will ask the court to keep him in preventive detention,” he declared.
Read alsoPutin again suggests that Ukraine is behind the jihadist attack in Moscow
Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed accusations that they are involved as absurd.
“My uncle used to say that the best manure sellers usually carry their samples in their mouths,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
“Russian officials seem to be very good manure sellers,” Kirby said, denouncing what he called Russia's “pointless propaganda.”
'Completely inappropriate'
The four alleged attackers – who had bruises and cuts on their swollen faces – were taken away on Sunday, March 24, before a Moscow courtall of them from Tajikistan, Russian media reported.
The Russian security service, the FSB, stated that it had detained the gunmen as they tried to flee to Ukraine, a claim apparently refuted by the Belarusian strongman, Alexander Lukashenko, who said they were heading to his country first.
The jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) have said several times since the day of the attack that they were responsible and media channels affiliated with the IS have published videos of the gunmen inside the premises.
The Russian leader was seen lighting a candle for the victims in a Moscow church two days after the attack, but has not visited the site of the massacre nor has he publicly met with any victim.
“If any contact is necessary, we will inform accordingly,” Peskov said, when asked if Putin planned to meet with relatives of the deceased.
He also noted that Putin was not planning to visit the Crocus town hall, where rescuers had been searching for bodies in the rubble for a week.
“These days it would be completely inappropriate to carry out any travel, because this would simply interfere with work,” he said.
ISIS calls to “attack Jews and Christians”
This same Thursday, the spokesman for the Islamic StateAbu Huthaifa al-Ansari, wanted to make clear the group's responsibility for the Moscow attack and called for more attacks against Jews and Christians, especially in Europe and the United States, as an expression of Muslim support for the population of Gaza.
Through a voice message on Telegramalso sent a message to Putin telling him that the group does not need to “give explanations” about the attack in Moscow because Russia is a country that “has always fought against Muslims”, in reference to its intervention in Syria since 2015.
With AFP, Reuters and EFE
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