ORcrania has “nothing to do” with the shooting that left at least 40 dead and more than 100 injured, according to a provisional toll, in a concert hall in Moscow, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency declared on Friday, describing the tragedy as “terrorist act.”
“Let's be clear, Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do with these events,” Mijaílo Podoliak said on Telegram. “Ukraine never used terrorist methods of war,” he added.
The kyiv army has been fighting Russian troops for two years, who invaded the country in February 2022.
For Ukraine, “it is important to carry out effective combat operations, offensive actions to destroy the regular Russian army” and put an end to the invasion, the adviser said.
The “Russian Freedom Legion,” a group of Russian anti-government fighters based in Ukraine, denied any involvement in the attack.
The group has carried out armed incursions into Russian border regions in recent days.
“We emphasize that the Legion does not fight against Russian civilians,” the group insisted on Telegram, accusing “Putin's terrorist regime” of having “prepared” this “bloody provocation.”
“There is no indication that kyiv participated,” says the US.
Likewise, the United States stated this Friday that there is no indication that Ukraine participated in the “horrible” attack.
In a press conference, one of the White House spokespersons, John Kirby, explained that the United States is still gathering information about the event, but said that “At the moment there is no indication that Ukraine or Ukrainian citizens are involved.”
“At this point I would rule out any connection with Ukraine,” he stressed.
The spokesperson also conveyed his condolences to the victims of the attack and demonstrated that the images of the event are “really horrible and difficult to see.”
🇷🇺 | URGENT – ATTACK IN RUSSIA: The Crocus concert hall in Moscow continues to collapse despite the efforts of Russian fire crews, with special forces teams still inside the building trying to find survivors.
pic.twitter.com/Nk41c9cc3p— Alerta News 24 (@AlertaNews24) March 22, 2024
A week before the Russian presidential elections on March 15-17, several Western embassies, including the United States, They warned about possible terrorist attacks in Russia.
Specific, The US embassy in Russia had asked US citizens on March 7 to avoid mass events in Moscow.such as concerts, because there was information that “extremists” were planning some type of attack.
Asked about this, Kirby assured that Washington had no prior knowledge of the shooting that occurred this Friday.
AFP and EFE
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