March 23, 2024 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an address to the citizens of Russia earlier today, characterized yesterday’s terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk as a “horrific and savage act of terrorism” and vowed that the perpetrators will be identified, apprehended and punished. “Additional anti-terrorist and anti-sabotage measures have been introduced in Moscow, the Moscow Region, and all regions of the country,” he said. “Our top priority now is to prevent those behind this bloody massacre from committing another crime.” He noted that the four suspects in the attack were apprehended by the FSB security service heading towards Ukraine “where, according to preliminary information, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.” Beyond that, Russian authorities are being careful not to attribute responsibility for the attack to any particular organization or state at this time.
“All perpetrators, organizers and masterminds behind this crime will get just and inevitable punishment. Whoever they are, whoever guides them. I repeat: we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this attack on Russia, on our people,” Putin said.
In Kyiv, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has claimed that the FSB itself is responsible for carrying out the attack for the purpose of justifying additional “aggression” against Ukraine. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine categorically rejects the accusations, which Russian officials started to make, claiming that Ukraine was involved in the shooting at the Crocus concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region,” it said. “We consider such accusations to be a planned provocation by the Kremlin to further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russian society, create conditions for increased mobilization of Russian citizens to participate in the criminal aggression against our country and discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community.”
