US vice president says Ukraine not involved in Moscow attack
Washington D.C., US - US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insinuation that Ukraine could be involved in Friday’s attack on a concert hall in the Moscow region that killed at least 133 people.
In an interview with ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, Harris answered ‘no’ when questioned if Washington had evidence to back Putin’s accusation.
“And first, let me start by saying what has happened is an act of terrorism and the number of people who’ve been killed is obviously a tragedy and we should all send our condolences to those families.” “No, there is no, whatsoever, any evidence and, in fact, what we know to be the case is that ISIS-K is actually, by all accounts, responsible for what happened,” she added.
At least 133 people were killed and 145 others were injured after gunmen opened fire as the rock band Picnic was about to perform at the Crocus City Hall, just west of Moscow. Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with the attack, including four directly involved, according to the Federal Security Service.
Putin said all four people directly involved in committing the attack were arrested on their way to Ukraine, where ‘a window’ was prepared for their escape.
He did not directly blame Ukraine but also did not refer to the assessment by American officials that a branch of the DAESH/ISIS terror group was behind it. Meanwhile, officials in Ukraine, where Russia started a ‘special military operation’ two years ago, have denied any involvement in the attack.
The US, on Saturday, also ‘strongly’ condemned Friday’s ‘heinous’ terrorist attack in
Moscow, as well as ‘terrorism in all its forms.’
“The United States strongly condemns yesterday’s deadly terrorist attack in Moscow,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“We send our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and all affected by this heinous crime,” he said, adding: “We condemn terrorism in all its forms and stand in
solidarity with the people of Russia in grieving the loss of life from this horrific event.”
‘Purposeful massacre’
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday slammed Friday’s shooting at the Crocus City Concert Hall in Moscow region as a ‘purposeful massacre’ aimed at sowing discord in society.
“The criminals, purposefully and in cold blood killed, shot our citizens and our children at pointblank range,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation on Saturday. “Like the Nazis, who once carried out massacres in the occupied territories, they planned to arrange a demonstrative execution, a bloody act of intimidation.” In the wake of the attack, the president declared Sunday, as the day of national mourning. “I express my deep, sincere condolences to all those who lost their loved ones. The whole country and our entire people are grieving with you,” he said.
Putin said all four people directly involved in committing the attack were arrested on their way to Ukraine, where ‘a window’ was prepared for their escape.
“All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, all those who were shooting and killing people, were found and detained. They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. A total of 11 people were detained,” he said.
Russian special services are working to identify accomplices of assailants, he added.
Gunmen opened fire as rock band Picnic was about to perform at the concert venue just west of Moscow. The terrorists also used flammable liquid to set the hall on fire, which quickly spread at a huge area of almost 13,000 square meters.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, meanwhile, said that his country has ‘no slightest connection’ with Friday’s terrorist attack in Moscow. “Any attempts to connect Ukraine to the terrorist attack are absolutely untenable. Ukraine has not the slightest connection to this incident,” Podolyak wrote on X.