On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in a televised address that the four suspected gunmen who were arrested for a mass-shooting at a Moscow theatre this weekend, were en route to Ukraine when they were arrested in the country’s Bryansk region. The attack was reported to have killed more than 130 concertgoers.
During the tragic event, the alleged perpetrators deployed incendiary bombs and automatic fire, from what appeared to be Kalashnikov style rifles, into the crowded venue as attendees listened to music performed by the Soviet-era band “Picnic”.
Calling the incident a “bloody, barbaric terrorist act,” the newly re-elected leader stated that the Tajikistan citizens were apprehended while attempting to cross a “window” that was prepared for them by associates on the Ukrainian side of the border.
The allegations were strongly denied by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, and his intelligence services.
The Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack on a Friday Telegram posting. This information was confirmed by U.S. intelligence agencies who revealed that two-weeks ago they shared a related terrorist warning to officials in Moscow. The threat assessment included instructions for American citizens to avoid crowded public places.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, released a statement saying “ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever.”
ISIS has also released propaganda videos of the attack from body-cameras that they said were worn by the shooters.
The strike was the deadliest event in Russia since the three-day Beslan siege in 2004. During that incident, Chechen Islamists killed 300 hostages that they forcibly detained at a North Ossetian school.
