Russia admitted for the first time this Friday (24) that the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall, located on the outskirts of Moscow, was in fact an act coordinated by a branch of the Islamic State terrorist group.
The attack, which took place on March 22, resulted in the death of 144 people and injured another 360, marking the incident as one of the deadliest to occur on Russian soil.
After repeated claims of responsibility by the Islamic State of Khorasan terrorist group, Russian authorities, who initially tried to link the attack to Ukraine, were forced to recognize its true origin.
“The preparatory actions, financing, attack and withdrawal of terrorists were coordinated via the Internet by members of the group [Estado Islâmico da] Khorasan Province, which is located in the Afghanistan-Pakistan zone,” said Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), during a meeting in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
However, Bortnikov’s statement further detailed that the terrorists received “instructions to head to the Ukrainian border” after completing the attack, where they allegedly had an “escape” prepared by the other side. Ukraine has already vehemently denied any involvement in the attack.
To date, more than 20 suspects of perpetrating the crime have been arrested, including all individuals who were directly involved in the shooting.
Dictator Vladimir Putin, at the end of March, even acknowledged that the attack was the work of “radical Islamists”, but continued to insinuate that Kiev could be behind what happened.
The US embassy in Moscow had warned Russian authorities weeks earlier about a possible terrorist attack in the capital and, according to the American press, Washington named Crocus City Hall itself as one of the possible targets.
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