{"id":9794,"date":"2024-03-26T03:09:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T03:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/26\/putin-acknowledges-radical-islamists-committed-moscow-attack\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T03:09:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T03:09:00","slug":"putin-acknowledges-radical-islamists-committed-moscow-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/26\/putin-acknowledges-radical-islamists-committed-moscow-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin Acknowledges \u2018Radical Islamists\u2019 Committed Moscow Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/25\/multimedia\/25russia-attack-01-zqjt\/25russia-attack-01-zqjt-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Putin Acknowledges \u2018Radical Islamists\u2019 Committed Moscow Attack\" title=\"Putin Acknowledges \u2018Radical Islamists\u2019 Committed Moscow Attack\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday acknowledged for the first time that the bloody assault on a concert hall near Moscow was executed by \u201cradical Islamists,\u201d but he insisted that Ukraine could still have played a role despite the Islamic State\u2019s claim of responsibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Russians grieved, bringing flowers and candles to makeshift memorials across the country, Mr. Putin said that the tragedy was likely ordered by Ukraine,<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>a statement that shifted attention from his government\u2019s security failure and could also help his war effort. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe question is: Who benefited from it?\u201d Mr. Putin said, referring to the<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>worst attack in the capital in two decades, during a publicly broadcast meeting with government officials. \u201cThis atrocity can be just an element in a series of attempts of those who have been at war with our country since 2014,\u201d he said, referring to the Ukrainian government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russian investigators have not disclosed any evidence demonstrating that the four suspects, men from Tajikistan who were migrant workers in Russia, have a connection to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the news reports, Russian state television presented the location of their arrest \u2014 the Bryansk region of Russia that borders Ukraine \u2014 as evidence of Ukrainian involvement. The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.1tv.ru\/news\/issue\/2024-03-24\/21:00#10\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">reports also suggested<\/a> that Kyiv could have hired them to mount the attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Monday, Mr. Putin said, \u201cOf course, it is necessary to answer the question, why after committing the crime the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine?\u201d Mr. Putin said. \u201cWho was waiting for them there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Putin listed Ukrainian attacks against the Russian territory, its energy and transport infrastructure, including in Crimea, and said that the armed attack in Moscow could fit into a bigger operation of intimidation by the government in Kyiv.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack on the concert hall that killed at least 139 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Putin\u2019s remarks reflected how the Kremlin seemed determined to muster its resources against what it apparently sees as its main enemy: Ukraine, backed by a coalition of Western states. They also added to a long list of issues that Moscow and Western capitals are at odds with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Emmanuel Macron of France on Monday seemed to contradict Mr. Putin\u2019s version. He said that his country\u2019s intelligence services and their partners had determined that \u201can Islamic State entity masterminded the attack and carried it out.\u201d On March 7, the American Embassy in Moscow also issued a rare, specific warning calling on people to avoid large gatherings, including concerts, owing to information that extremists had imminent plans to target such events in the Russian capital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">France on Sunday raised its terror alert to its highest level. Mr. Macron said that the Islamic State entity, which he did not name, had tried to carry out attacks in France in the past few months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Aleksandr I. Bastrykin, the head of Russia\u2019s top investigative body, said that the number of dead had grown to 139, including three children. Of those, 137 died in the concert hall and two in hospitals, he said. Forty people died because of gunshot wounds, Mr. Bastrykin said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tatiana Golikova, Russia\u2019s deputy prime minister in charge of health care, said that 93 people were still hospitalized and that nine were in a very grave condition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the weekend Russian media appeared to be stepping up efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine. On Sunday the evening news shows on Russia\u2019s main television channels featured reports suggesting that Ukraine was responsible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The main message was that Western countries were pushing a theory that the Islamic State was behind the attack, which took place at Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow, to shift blame away from Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe United States and Europe understand that any connection between Ukraine and the attack against Crocus City Hall would be suicidal for Kyiv and the whole anti-Russian alliance,\u201d said one anchor, Dmitri Melnikov, in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/smotrim.ru\/video\/2780193\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a report on Vesti Nedeli<\/a>, the flagship weekly news show on Rossiya-1, the main state-owned television network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. And the United States has said that the assault was the work of an ISIS offshoot, the Islamic State in Khorasan, and that there was no evidence implicating Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Three shopping malls belonging to the company that owns the concert hall said that they would be closed indefinitely. Emergency workers continued to clear the debris inside the concert hall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A general sense of anxiety among Russians was exacerbated by bomb threats on Sunday that prompted the evacuation of shopping malls in Moscow and in other Russian cities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tatiana Stanovaya, head of the France-based political analysis firm R. Politik, said that the Russian news outlets\u2019 focus on Ukraine was \u201cpurely political in nature and is likely aimed at internal consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Macron said that France had offered to cooperate with Russia to investigate the Islamic State affiliate, adding that it would be a mistake to try and divert blame for the attack elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI think that it would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine,\u201d Mr. Macron said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin\u2019s spokesman, said he would not comment on the course of the investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe urge you to rely on the information that comes from our law enforcement agencies,\u201d Mr. Peskov said in comments reported by the news agency Interfax. He added: \u201cThe investigation is ongoing. No coherent theory has been published yet. There was only preliminary data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The four suspects, according to their brief appearances in court, were foreign migrant workers who spoke little or no Russian. In <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/moscowcourts\/2756\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">videos of their court appearances<\/a>, they looked severely beaten, and footage of their being tortured during interrogation, which has been verified by The New York Times, circulated widely on social media. One of the suspects, Muhammadsobir Z. Fayzov, 19, was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/moscowcourts\/2757\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Monday, a district court in Moscow arraigned three men suspected of acting as accomplices. Mr. Bastrykin, the top investigator, said that they provided an apartment to the suspected terrorists, and a car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The arrest of the suspects has raised questions about the regulation of labor migration into Russia. Mikhail Sheremet, a lawmaker, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/rian_ru\/237563\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">told the state agency RIA Novosti<\/a> that he would push for the reintroduction of capital punishment in Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Aurelien Breeden<!-- --> contributed reporting from Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday acknowledged for the first time that the bloody assault on a concert hall near Moscow was executed by \u201cradical Islamists,\u201d but he insisted that Ukraine could still have played a role despite the Islamic State\u2019s claim of responsibility. As Russians grieved, bringing flowers and candles to makeshift memorials across [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/25\/multimedia\/25russia-attack-01-zqjt\/25russia-attack-01-zqjt-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14768,2601,13029,14769,3098,209,11404],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9796,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9794\/revisions\/9796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}