Putin blames both ‘radical Islamists,’ Ukraine for attack
President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday acknowledged for the first time that the bloody assault on a concert hall near Moscow was executed by “radical Islamists,” but he insisted that Ukraine could still have played a role despite the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.
As Russians grieved, bringing flowers and candles to makeshift memorials across the country, Putin said the tragedy was likely ordered by Ukraine, a statement that shifted attention from his government’s security failure and could also help his war effort.
“The question is: Who benefited from it?” Putin said, referring to the worst attack in the capital in two decades, during a publicly broadcast meeting with government officials. “This atrocity can be just an element in a series of attempts of those who have been at war with our country since 2014,” he said, referring to the Ukrainian government.
Russian investigators have not disclosed any evidence demonstrating that the four suspects, men from Tajikistan who were migrant workers in Russia, have a connection to Ukraine.
In the news reports, Russian state television presented the location of their arrest — the Bryansk region of Russia that borders Ukraine — as evidence of Ukrainian involvement. The reports also suggested Kyiv could have hired them to mount the attack.
Putin said, “Of course, it is necessary to answer the question, why after committing the crime the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there?”
Putin listed Ukrainian attacks against the Russian territory, its energy and transport infrastructure, including in Crimea, and said that the armed attack in Moscow could fit into a bigger operation of intimidation by the government in Kyiv.
Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack on the concert hall that killed at least 139 people.
Putin’s remarks reflected how the Kremlin seemed determined to muster its resources against what it apparently sees as its main enemy: Ukraine, backed by a coalition of Western states. They also added to a long list of issues between Moscow and
Western capitals.
President Emmanuel Macron of France on Monday seemed to contradict Putin’s version. He said his country’s intelligence services and their partners had determined that “an Islamic State entity masterminded the attack and carried it out.” On March 7, the American Embassy in Moscow also issued a rare, specific warning calling on people to avoid large gatherings, including concerts, owing to information that extremists had imminent plans to target such events in the Russian capital.
France on Sunday raised its terror alert to its highest level. Macron said the Islamic State entity, which he did not name, had tried to carry out attacks in France in the past few months.
Aleksandr I. Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s top investigative body, said the number of dead had grown to 139, including three children. Of those, 137 died in the concert hall and two in hospitals, he said. Forty people died because of gunshot wounds, Bastrykin said.
Tatiana Golikova, Russia’s deputy prime minister in charge of health care, said 93 people were still hospitalized and that nine were in a very grave condition.
Over the weekend, Russian media appeared to be stepping up efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine. On Sunday the news shows on Russia’s main television channels featured reports suggesting that Ukraine was responsible.
The main message was that Western countries were pushing a theory that the Islamic State was behind the attack, which took place at Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow, to shift blame away from Ukraine.
“The United States and Europe understand that any connection between Ukraine and the attack against Crocus City Hall would be suicidal for Kyiv and the whole anti-Russian alliance,” said one anchor, Dmitri Melnikov.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. The U.S. has said the assault was the work of an ISIS offshoot, the Islamic State in Khorasan, and that there was no evidence implicating Ukraine.