"They are trying to impose it on us that the terrorist act was committed not by the Kiev regime but by supporters of the radical Islamic ideology, possibly, by members of the Afghan branch of ISIL [the former name of the Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia]," Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev told the 19th annual meeting of top security officials of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) member states.
"However, it is far more important to promptly establish who is the mastermind and the sponsor of this horrific crime. Its traces lead to Ukrainian intelligence services. However, everyone is well aware that the Kiev regime is not independent and is fully controlled by the United States. It has to be borne in mind that ISIL and Al-Qaeda [outlawed in Russia] and other terrorist groups were created by Washington," Patrushev stressed.
As the Russian top security official pointed out, "the perpetrators of this mass shooting and also their accomplices were arrested upon their attempt to cross the Russian state border where the Ukrainian side prepared a window for their escape."
On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just outside the Moscow city limits. According to the latest data, 144 people were killed and 551 suffered injuries. The Russian Investigative Committee said that evidence had been found of the attackers’ links to Ukrainian nationalists.
RHM/PR