'A bloody, barbaric terrorist act'

Putin tries to link music hall attack to Ukraine, but Kyiv denies connection to suspects arrested

Members of the Investigative Committee of Russia examine the burned-out concert hall in Moscow on Saturday after Friday's attack, which has now claimed at least 133 lives and injured more than 100. Left: a woman lights candles at a memorial set up outside the music hall.

The suburban Moscow music hall where gunmen opened fire on concertgoers was a blackened, smouldering ruin Saturday, as the death toll in the attack surpassed 130 and Russian authorities arrested four suspects. President Vladimir Putin claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine.

Kyiv strongly denied any involvement in Friday’s assault on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, and the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility.

Putin did not mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervour for Russia’s war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.

U.S. intelligence officials confirmed the claim by the IS affiliate.

“ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The U.S. shared information with Russia in early March about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow and issued a public warning to Americans in Russia, Watson added.

Putin said authorities detained a total of 11 people in the attack, which also wounded more than 100. He called it “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.