Russian investigators have found a link between Ukrainian nationalists and last month’s massacre that killed over 140
Ukraine’s backers in the Group of Seven (G7) have denied that the country was involved in last month’s deadly terrorist attack in Moscow Region, according to a joint statement by the group’s foreign ministers issued on Friday. Russian authorities have claimed they found a money trail linking the perpetrators of the massacre to Ukrainian nationalists.
“We firmly reject the Russian authorities’ baseless attempts to blame Ukraine for the tragic terrorist attack near Moscow on March 22, which was claimed by ISIS. We call on Russia to stop using this tragedy in its disinformation efforts against Ukraine,” the ministers said in a joint communique issued after their meeting on the Italian island of Capri.
Four gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside Moscow on March 22, shooting everyone in sight before setting the building on fire. The tragedy resulted in more than 140 deaths. The suspects, all Tajik nationals, were detained several hours after the attack near the Ukrainian border. ISIS-K, an Afghanistan-based offshoot of the international terrorist organization Islamic State, claimed responsibility.
However, the head of Russia’s FSB security agency, Aleksandr Bortnikov, later suggested that the Ukrainian security services may have been involved in preparing the assault, possibly using the Islamists as proxies.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said the EU rejected the suggestion that Kiev had anything to do with the terror plot, accusing Moscow of using the attack “as a pretext to increase the illegal aggression against Ukraine.” Kiev, which initially claimed that Moscow itself had staged the massacre, has also staunchly denied any involvement.
This week, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said Russian investigators had confirmed a link between the perpetrators of the terror plot and Ukrainian nationalists.
Read more