A recent Bloomberg article claiming that some people in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s own inner circle do not believe Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City concert hall is the “mother of all fakes,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
On the evening of March 22, a group of armed gunmen attacked the Crocus City Hall venue outside Moscow. Over 130 people died and another 200 were injured.
The news agency wrote on Tuesday that “there’s no evidence of involvement by Ukraine, according to four people with close ties to the Kremlin.”
It claimed that Putin was present at discussions “where officials agreed” that there is no link to Kiev, but “remains determined to use the tragedy to try to rally Russians behind the war in Ukraine.” Bloomberg cited “one person with knowledge of the situation, asking not to be identified” as their source.
Zakharova blasted the report, writing on Telegram on Tuesday: “A masterpiece of news. Just the mother of all fakes.”
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Aleksandr Bortnikov, had commented that Ukraine may have been involved in the attack. Bortnikov also pointed to the potential role of the US and UK.
A group calling itself Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) has taken responsibility for the massacre. The US and EU insist that no one else could be to blame, denying that Ukraine had anything to do with the act of terrorism. Over the weekend, the Russian authorities arrested several suspects, including four directly involved in the attack.
The latter, all of whom are nationals of Tajikistan, attempted to escape by car. The FSB head said it is currently believed that they were expected in Ukraine, and that the Ukrainian side may have been preparing to open a “window” to allow them to cross the border.