Putin blames the West
Tyrant points finger at Ukraine as terror death toll rises
MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin has sought to blame the West for the Islamic State attack on a concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 139 people.
Putin said the killings at the Crocus City Hall had been carried out by “radical Islamists”, but suggested the terrorists had been aided by Western countries and Ukraine.
“Of course, it is necessary to answer the question, why, after committing the crime, the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there?” Putin asked.
“This atrocity may be only a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been fighting our country since 2014 through the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime.
“We know who carried out the attack. We want to know who the mastermind was.”
Four men, identified as Tajikistan citizens Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Shamsidin Fariduni, Rachabalizoda Saidakrami and Dalerjon Mirzoyev, faced court charged with terrorism, while three Russians – Aminchon Islomov, Dilovar Islomov and Isroil Islomov – have also been charged.
The Associated Press reports Mirzoyev, 32, may have been living in Russia illegally after his three-month residency permit had expired.
In video of his interrogation on Russian social media, he reportedly says he was recently living in a Moscow hostel with another of the suspects. The court said he was married and had four children.
Saidakrami, 30, is apparently unemployed and told the court he could not remember what city in Russia he was living in. His head was bandaged when he appeared in court after Russian officers reportedly sawed off one of his ears.
Fariduni, 25, was registered in Krasnogorsk, the Moscow suburb where the killings took place, and worked in a flooring factory. He reportedly told interrogators he was offered 500,000 roubles (about $5425) to carry out the attack — the equivalent of about 2½ years of the average wage in Tajikistan.
Fayzov, 19, appeared to fade in and out of consciousness when he was brought into the court in a wheelchair and had one eye injured or missing. He had worked as an apprentice in a barbershop.
The Kremlin has pushed back at suggestions the death penalty will be reintroduced.
Critics have said Putin is trying to portray the attacks as the work of Kyiv and its allies to provide an excuse to escalate the war Ukraine.
US officials confirmed the IS branch Islamic State in Khorasan (Isis-K) was responsible. The group has targeted Russia over the Kremlin’s backing of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.