Putin blames ‘radical Islamists’ for terrorist attack
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the gunmen who killed 139 people at a suburban Moscow concert hall are “radical Islamists,” but he repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role despite its strong denials.
Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists “whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.”
Putin, who declared over the weekend that the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, said investigators haven’t determined who ordered the attack, but that it was necessary to find out “why the terrorists after committing their crime tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there.”
The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.
“We are seeing that the U.S., through various channels, is trying to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to their intelligence, there is allegedly no Kyiv trace in the Moscow terror attack — that the bloody terrorist act was committed by followers of Islam, members of the Islamic State group,” Putin said during a meeting with top law enforcement officials.
He added that “those who support the Kyiv regime don’t want to be accomplices in terror and sponsors of terrorism, but many questions remain.”
Putin went on to declare that Ukraine has sought to deflect attention from its battlefield setbacks by waging cross-border attacks on various Russian regions, adding that a “bloody intimidation acts like the Moscow terror attack look like a logical part of this chain.”
The attack Friday night at the Crocus City Hall music venue on the western outskirts of Moscow left 139 people dead and more than 180 injured, proving to be the deadliest in Russia in years. About 100 people remained hospitalized, officials said.
Putin warned that more attacks could follow, alleging possible Western involvement. He didn’t mention the warning about an imminent terror attack that the U.S. confidentially shared with Moscow two weeks before the raid or the public. Three days before the attack, Putin denounced the March 7 U.S. Embassy notice urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, as an attempt to frighten Russians and “blackmail” the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.
The four suspected attackers, all of them nationals of Tajikistan, were remanded by a Moscow court Sunday night with carrying out the attack and ordered to remain in custody pending official probe.
Russian media reported that the four were tortured while being interrogated, and during their court appearance they showed signs of being severely beaten. Russian officials said all four pleaded guilty to the charges, which carry life punishment, but their condition raised questions about whether their statements might have been coerced.
Russian authorities reported that seven other suspects have been detained, and three of them were remanded by the court Monday on charges of being involved in the attack.
As they mowed down concertgoers with gunfire, the attackers set fire to the vast concert hall, and the resulting blaze caused the roof to collapse.
The search operation will continue until at least this afternoon, officials said. A Russian Orthodox priest conducted a service at the site Monday, blessing a makeshift memorial with incense.
Russian officials and lawmakers have urged a severe punishment for all those involved in the attack, and some called for the restoration of capital punishment outlawed since 1997.