Ukraine: "No Connection to Moscow Terror... Russian Claims Are Absurd"

Le Rus claims "Suspects contacted Ukrainian side"

Ukraine on the 23rd (local time) completely denied any connection to the indiscriminate shooting terror attack that took place at a concert hall in Moscow, the capital of Russia.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the President of Ukraine, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that day, stating, "Ukraine has nothing to do with this incident."

He said, "It was expected that Russian officials would mention 'traces of Ukraine' in the concert hall terror attack," and emphasized, "The claims by Russian intelligence agencies are completely unsupportable and absurd."

The Crocus City Hall concert hall is engulfed in flames as the roof collapses due to arson by terrorists.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The previous day, at the 'Crocus City Hall' concert hall in Krasnogorsk, northwest of Moscow, assailants indiscriminately fired automatic rifles, resulting in over 200 casualties. The Islamic extremist armed group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

Advisor Podolyak expressed doubts about the fact that the terrorists were not stopped for more than an hour and 30 minutes while shooting inside the concert hall, that they got back into the vehicles they brought to the venue and left the scene, and that they moved to a border area densely occupied by Russian troops. This has been interpreted as suggesting suspicion that it could be a staged event by Russia.

Podolyak said, "The conclusion is clear," adding, "Any attempt to link Ukraine to the terror attack is absolutely unacceptable."

On the same day, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that a total of 11 people related to the incident, including four main suspects in the shooting, were arrested. The Russian Investigative Committee claimed that they were caught in the Bryansk region, about 100 km from the Ukrainian border, and that they attempted to cross the border and had contact with the Ukrainian side.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also stated in a press release, "We know which country these brutal criminals planned to flee to in order to escape persecution. That country is Ukraine," she claimed.