Putin insists terror attack on Moscow venue may have been ordered by Ukraine

Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow was conducted by radical Islamists, but reasserted his earlier claims that Ukraine could have been involved in the shooting that left 139 people dead.

- Andrew Roth, Pjotr Sauer

"We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists," Putin said, speaking during a meeting with government officials. "We are interested in who ordered it," he said, claiming that the shooting fitted into a wider campaign of intimidation by Ukraine.

"This atrocity may be just one part in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime."

Putin did not mention the affiliate of the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for the attack, despite growing evidence that the Afghan branch of IS, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), masterminded the terrorist attack on the concert hall.

Kyiv has vehemently denied any role in the attack and has accused Russia of falsely suggesting it was to blame in order to escalate the fighting in Ukraine.

IS has said several times since Friday that it was responsible, and IS-affiliated media channels have published graphic videos of the gunmen inside the venue.

Referring to US statements that said Washington had no indication that Ukraine was involved in the attack, Putin said: "The US is trying to convince everyone that there is no Kyiv trace." He then repeated an earlier assertion that the attackers had planned to escape to Ukraine before they were arrested. "Who was waiting for them there?" Putin asked.