Putin accuses Ukraine of involvement in terrorist attack in Krasnogorsk
All four individuals involved in the terror attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk have been detained, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised video address nearly a day after the tragic events.
In his statement, Putin said the suspects "attempted to flee towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary information, arrangements had been made for them to cross the border." According to Putin, a total of 11 people have been detained. Prior to Putin's address, Russian propagandists also reported on an alleged "Ukrainian trace" discovered in the attack.
"We have faced a calculated mass killing of civilians. It is indicative of execution. All perpetrators, organizers, and beneficiaries will be punished. We will find and bring each one to justice," Putin stressed.
Additional anti-terrorism and anti-sabotage measures have been implemented across all regions of Russia, the president stated. March 24 has been declared a national day of mourning in Russia.
Several international leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and others, had already condemned the attack prior to Putin.
Earlier, on the evening of March 22, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an official statement regarding the attack in Krasnogorsk on their website. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine categorically rejects the accusations put forward by Russian officials of Ukraine's alleged involvement in the shooting at the Crocus concert hall in Krasnogorsk," the statement read. "We consider such accusations to be a deliberate provocation by the Kremlin aimed at further inciting anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russian society, creating conditions for the mobilization of Russian citizens to participate in the criminal aggression against our state, and discrediting Ukraine in the eyes of the international community."
"We urge the international community to decisively reject the false Russian accusations of Ukraine's alleged involvement in the Krasnogorsk shooting and to intensify support for our state in resisting the criminal Russian aggression," the Ukrainian foreign policy department added.