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Friday’s assault on the Crocus City Hall was the deadliest terror attack on Russia’s capital in decades and comes less than a week after Putin secured victory in a stage-managed election, tightening his grip on the country he has ruled since the turn of the century.
The terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly incident. A US official said Friday that Washington had no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim.
The development prompted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday to call for global cooperation against ISIS.
“ISIS is a terrorist organization that is operating in several parts of the world, and it is a very serious threat to us all … and we encourage all countries to work with each other in order to make sure that ISIS will not have the capacity to strike again anywhere else in the world,” Guterres said at a news conference.
Putin linked what he called a “barbaric terrorist attack” to Ukraine in a video statement released Saturday, as he expressed deep condolences and declared Sunday a national day of mourning.
The perpetrators, he said, had “tried to hide and move towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border.”
Ukraine has denied any connection with the attack, and warned that Russia could use it as an excuse to ramp up its invasion.
Also on Saturday, the Committee said that four men suspected of carrying out the attack had been taken into custody on Friday night near Russia’s border with Ukraine.
“Special services and law enforcement agencies in the Bryansk region, near the border with Ukraine, detained four suspects from among those who committed a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall,” the Committee said.
This was also reported by Russian state media agency RIA Novosti, which said that after the attack the criminals “intended to cross the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine and had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side, the FSB said.” The FSB — Russia’s security agency — did not specify the nature of the alleged contacts.
The Belarus ambassador to Russia, meanwhile, said that Belarusian special services helped Russia prevent “terrorists” from escaping across the border Friday night.
