Unbelievable

No, really—unbelievable

In a world where the truth is only tangentially related to what we believe, and where evidence or a lack thereof seems to not matter, Russia is arguably the worst offender of lying on the world stage.

To wit:

On Wednesday, the head of Russia’s national security council told those gullible enough to believe it that the U.S. had something to do with the recent terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow that killed 145 people.

According to the Associated Press, since the March 22 attack, Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly tried to convince the world of U.S. involvement.

“They are trying to impose on us that the terrorist act was committed not by the Kyiv regime, but by supporters of radical Islamic ideology, perhaps members of the Afghan branch of IS,” security council head Nikolai Patrushev said at a meeting in Kazakhstan.

“However, it is much more important to quickly establish who is the customer and sponsor of this monstrous crime. Its traces lead to the Ukrainian special services. But everyone knows that the Kyiv regime is not independent and is completely controlled by the United States.”

He’s partially right. There was U.S. involvement in the episode. But not the kind he suggests.

Despite obvious tension between the U.S. and Russia, two weeks before the attack the U.S. embassy in Russia issued a warning that it was monitoring reports of planned terrorist attacks on public targets. Information on the attacks was passed on from U.S. to Russian officials.

Russian officials will not tell you that, and neither will they provide actual evidence of U.S. involvement. And as far as the attack itself is concerned, a branch of the Islamic State group has already claimed credit.

The Russian narrative is being pushed forward for a reason, and it hits close to home. If the past is prologue, some members of Congress will use this narrative as evidence that the U.S. is sticking its nose into places it shouldn’t.

To be certain, there are places the U.S. should not stick its nose, and one of those is in the sponsorship of terrorism. Most Americans should be able to agree on that point. And until evidence is provided by a credible source, we’ll assume the U.S. didn’t have anything to do with the attack in Russia.

Because what’s coming out of the Kremlin is unbelievable. Literally.