Security chief blames UK for Moscow attack
The head of Russia’s federal security agency has suggested that Britain, the US and Ukraine were behind the Moscow concert hall attack that killed at least 139 people.
Responsibility for the atrocity at Crocus City Hall on Friday has been claimed by Isis, which released a graphic video of the attack.
Ukraine has denied any involvement, calling the accusations “lies” and “absurd”.
When asked by Russian media whether he thought the US, UK and Ukraine were involved in the attack, Alexander Bortnikov, director of Russia’s federal security service (FSB), claimed: “We believe that this is true.”
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency quoted him saying: “In any case, we are now talking about the factual information we have… they have a long record of this sort.”
He said yesterday, without providing evidence, that Ukraine was trying to “demonstrate its capability”, adding: “It is expected to carry out sabotage and terrorist acts in the rear. This is what both the chiefs of Ukraine’s special services and the British special services are aiming at. US special services have repeatedly mentioned this, too.”
Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, suggested last month that the US was recruiting jihadist fighters to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia. It told Tass: “According to credible information received by the Russian foreign intelligence service, the US military is actively recruiting militants from jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State and alQaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia and CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries.”
However, on 7 March the US issued a warning to its own citizens that “extremists” had “imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow” and specifically mentioned concerts. The US said it also communicated with the Russian government directly. The US has pointed to Islamic State-Khorasan, tjhe group’s ofshoot in Aghanistan and Pakistan.
Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the gunmen were “radical Islamists” but repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role. He claimed that the attackers attempted to flee to Ukraine after the attack.
However, yesterday Belarus’s President, Alexander Lukashenko, contradicted him, saying they initially tried to flee to Belarus, not Ukraine. He said Belarus had set up checkpoints at the border. “That’s why they couldn’t enter Belarus,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency BelTA.
Russian officials said 11 people had been detained over the Crocus City Hall attack, which left more than 180 people injured and the building burnt to the ground.