Statements by Russian officials about an alleged “Ukrainian trace” in the Crocus massacre do not match the official facts.
According to the latest Russian media reports, 174 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow region. According to propagandists, this is not the final number of victims, as there are many injured in hospitals, and rescuers continue to clear the ruins of the burned shopping center. There is information that before the roof of the building collapsed, there may have been about two hundred people there.
Thus, yesterday’s massacre became the largest terrorist attack in Russia in terms of the number of dead since Beslan. Russian officials have dismissed information about the possible involvement of ISIS militants in the shooting, and continue to claim a “Ukrainian trace.” Why this version does not fit the official facts is beyond the story.
Confession of detainees
The director of the Russian FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, announced the detention of 11 people, including four of them, according to his version, who took part in the attack and shooting of people in Crocus City.
Russian security officials say the terrorists are citizens of Tajikistan. Western media believe that these particular people may be connected to ISIS, but the FSB stands firm, saying that all the suspects are “connected to Ukraine and tried to cross the border in the Bryansk region into Ukraine.”
Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan released a video of the interrogation of one of the detainees. According to a man born in 1998, named Shamsidin, he arrived from Turkey on March 4. Yesterday he opened fire on people in a shopping center. He did it for money – 500 thousand rubles, but received only half of the amount on his bank card.
The detainee said he was recruited through Telegram. Apparently they wrote to him from an unknown account “without a name and surname” a month ago: “I listened to the preacher’s lesson on Telegram, his assistant wrote to me.”
“At first, he just said hello, then he offered me money, I agreed. They reset the place and told me to kill someone, no matter what,” the man said.
Later, Simonyan released another recording of the interrogation of another detainee. According to the propagandist, he is the “leader” of the terrorists. The man does not speak Russian, the interrogation is carried out with the participation of an interpreter.
In the video, he did not confess to his crime, like the first. He said he rented a house on Dmitrovskoye Shosse in Moscow. Together with another suspect, he bought a car to work as a taxi driver.
What is wrong with terat?
The official facts themselves, disseminated by Russian authorities and propagandists, are alarming:
1. The terrorists calmly drove up to the shopping center in a vehicle with weapons. After that, they shot people and blew up the concert hall and drove from Moscow to the Bryansk region without changing the car;
2. They fled to the most populated area with Russian security forces and military personnel – the border area with Ukraine.
3. During the arrest they did not offer serious resistance. Russian security forces reportedly announced the shooting during the arrest, but no one was injured. However, a video surfaced on Russian Telegram channels claiming that security forces cut off the ear of one of the detainees and forced him to eat it.
frames from the video
Moreover, everyone remains alive, although those who witnessed Crocus spoke about suicide bombers, who, as is known, always try to kill as many people as possible.
4. The Kremlin insists that the terrorist attack has a “Ukrainian trace,” but it is not necessarily beneficial for Ukraine – to lose the support of its Western allies, but Russia is already using it to its advantage. International leaders have already expressed sympathy for the Russian people, and in the Russian Federation they are talking about restrictions on migrants, introducing the death penalty and expanding mobilization for war in Ukraine.
5. The dictator of the Russian Federation responded to the terrorist attack 20 hours later. In his speech to the Russians, he again mentioned the “Ukrainian trace.”
“All those who shot and killed people were found and detained; they are moving towards Ukraine, where a “window” has been prepared on the Ukrainian side for crossing the border,” said Vladimir Putin.
But later it became known that the suspects of the terrorist attack were detained 15 km from the Belarusian border. This information was confirmed by the Ambassador of Belarus to Russia, Dmitry Krutoy.
“In fact, the main task last night was to prevent terrorists from escaping through our common border. This task has been completed,” the ambassador said.
So, he, in fact, refuted Putin’s words that the suspects were moving towards Ukraine, where they allegedly “prepared a window for them.” However, terrorists tried to enter Belarus.
5. In addition, the Kremlin continues to ignore statements by Western intelligence agencies about the involvement of ISIS militants in terrorist attacks.
Moreover, the Amak news agency, close to the terrorists, called the terrorist attack Russia’s revenge for the fight against ISIS and posted photos of the Crocus shooters. It is noteworthy that their clothes match those of the suspects when they were arrested.
father
The statement said Islamic State militants “carried out a coordinated attack on a large crowd of Christians” on March 22. Amak’s sources added that “the attack took place in the usual context of a chaotic war between the Islamic State and countries fighting Islam.”
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.