U.S. accused of having role in massacre

TALLINN, Estonia — The head of Russia’s national security council on Wednesday contended that the United States shares blame for the attack by gunmen on a Moscow concert hall that killed 145 people, though a branch of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.

Since the March 22 attack at the Crocus City Hall, the deadliest on Russian soil in two decades, Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin have claimed, without presenting evidence, that it was organized by Ukraine, which has been fighting a Russian invasion for more than two years.

An affiliate of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

“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 the Kazakhstan capital, Astana, of security councils of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The SCO is a nine-country regional security and economic bloc that includes China, India and Iran.

“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,” Patrushev said.

Four suspects were captured the day after the attack in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.

Putin has said that the gunmen had arranged for passage into Ukraine. Six others suspected of being accomplices have been arrested.

The attack came two weeks after the U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a warning that it was monitoring reports of planned terrorist attacks.