Russia says it has evidence that Ukraine is linked to Moscow attack

Russia He claimed on Thursday to have “proof” that the perpetrators of the attack on a concert hall near Moscow, which left 143 dead, had links to “Ukrainian nationalists,” which the United States called “absurd propaganda.”

The attack, which occurred on Friday night at Crocus City Hall, was claimed by the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), but Russian authorities have insisted on the Ukrainian trail for several days.

Ukraine and its allies deny any involvement in the massacre and believe that the Kremlin, in the midst of an armed conflict with Ukraine, seeks to blame its neighbor for political reasons.

The Russian Investigative Committee, in charge of the main criminal investigations, stated that it has new elements that would support the Ukrainian lead.

”The work carried out with the detained terrorists, the examination of the technical devices they carried and the analysis of financial transactions made it possible to obtain evidence of their links with Ukrainian nationalists,” the Committee stated on Telegram.

According to this body, the four attackers received “significant sums of money and cryptocurrencies from Ukraine, which they used to prepare the crime.” But they did not publish any document or element to corroborate their statements.

Investigators also reported the arrest of a new suspect, whom they accuse of having participated in financing the attack.

With this person, a total of twelve people were arrested for this massacre, including the four alleged attackers. Eight of them were charged and placed in preventive detention.

The White House accused Russia of wanting to spread “absurd propaganda” about the attack, for which the Islamic State is “solely responsible.”

”My uncle used to say (…) that the best manure sellers often carry their samples in their mouths. “Russian officials seem to be pretty good manure sellers,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The attack took place on March 22, before a show by the Russian rock group Piknik, in a concert hall at Crocus City Hall, in Krasnogorsk, a northwestern suburb of Moscow.

The attackers opened fire in the room with automatic weapons and set the building on fire.

This attack, the deadliest in the last 20 years in Russia, left at least 143 dead and 360 injured, including children.

According to President Vladimir Putin, the four attackers were detained in Russia’s Bryansk region while trying to flee to Ukraine.

The head of the Russian security services (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, assured that the Ukrainian and Western secret services had “facilitated” the attack.

Ukraine strongly denies any involvement in the massacre, and accuses Moscow of wanting to “place the blame” on kyiv.

The United States said it warned Russia in March that a terrorist attack was likely to target large gatherings in Moscow.