Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the brutal attack at a Moscow concert hall on Friday was carried out by “radical Islamists.”
“We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries,” Putin said.
He also again suggested that Ukraine was to blame for the attack.
“It is also necessary to answer the question why the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine after committing a crime, who was waiting for them there? It is clear that those who support the Kyiv regime do not want to be accomplices of terror and sponsors of terrorism, but there are really a lot of questions,” he said in a meeting via videoconference with government officials, special services and law enforcement agencies on measures taken after the terrorist attack, according to the Kremlin.
“We know by whose hands this atrocity was committed against Russia and its people, and we are interested in who the instigator is,” Putin said.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre and released graphic footage showing the incident – but the Kremlin has alleged, without evidence, that the perpetrators planned to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has vehemently denied involvement and called the Kremlin’s claims “absurd.”
Putin on Saturday also claimed that a “window” had been prepared for the attackers to escape to Ukraine. He did not provide evidence.
The post has been updated with more details from Putin's remarks.