As Russians on Monday mourned the victims of a bloody attack on a concert hall near Moscow that killed no less than 137 people, President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to satisfy with government officials to debate the tragedy – the worst such attack in the capital in twenty years.
The government appears to be increasing its efforts to shift the blame to Ukraine. On Sunday, hours after a district court indicted 4 men suspected of carrying out Friday evening’s attack, reports appeared on major evening news programs on major Russian television channels suggesting that Ukraine was responsible.
The major message was that Western countries were pushing the theory that Islamic State was behind the attack, which took place at the town hall in Crocus on the outskirts of Moscow, with a view to blame Ukraine.
“The United States and Europe understand that any connection between Ukraine and the attack on Crocus City Hall would be suicide for Kiev and the entire anti-Russian alliance,” one among the presenters, Dmitry Melnikov, said in reportage in Vesti Weeklyflagship weekly news program on Rossiya-1, the major state television station.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The United States said the attack was the work of an ISIS offshoot, the Islamic State in Khorasan, and that there was no evidence of Ukrainian involvement. Ukraine has denied any involvement.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that his country’s intelligence services and their partners had determined that “an Islamic State unit planned and carried out the attack.”
On Sunday, the terrorist threat level in France was raised to the highest level. Macron said an Islamic State unit, which he didn’t name, had tried to perform attacks in France over the past few months.
On Monday, mourners from across Russia got here to bring flowers to the spontaneous memorials. According to state media, many Russians also went to hospitals to donate blood.
Three shopping malls owned by the company that owns the concert hall announced that they’d be closed for an indefinite period. Emergency services continued to wash up debris in the concert hall.
The general sense of tension amongst Russians was exacerbated by Sunday’s bomb threats, which prompted the evacuation of shopping malls in Moscow and other Russian cities.
But reports by Russian news outlets reflected the Kremlin’s determination to marshal its resources against what it apparently considers its major enemy: Ukraine, backed by a coalition of Western countries.
Russian investigators haven’t revealed any evidence that the 4 suspects, men from Tajikistan who were migrant employees in Russia, have ties to Ukraine.
In press reports, Russian state television presented the location of their arrest – the Bryansk Oblast in Russia bordering Ukraine – as evidence of Ukrainian involvement. The reports also suggested that Kiev could have hired them to arrange the attack.
Tatiana Stanovaya, head of French political evaluation firm R.Politik, said Russian news outlets’ focus on the Ukrainian issue was “purely political in nature and probably aimed at domestic consumption.”
Ms. Stanowa noted in a social media post that Putin was careful not to put blame for the attack squarely on Ukraine.
IN AND an announcement on the tragedy on SaturdayPutin said that the suspects were “heading towards Ukraine” and that “according to preliminary information, a window has been prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.”
Macron said France had offered Russia cooperation to analyze an entity linked to Islamic State, adding that it might be a mistake to blame the attack elsewhere.
“I believe that using this context to try to turn it against Ukraine would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens,” Macron said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov said Monday that Putin would meet with Russian government officials and heads of the Moscow region to debate unspecified measures to be taken after the attack.
Peskov said he wouldn’t comment on the investigation.
“We call on you to rely on information from our law enforcement agencies,” Peskov said in comments reported by the Interfax news agency. He added: “The investigation is ongoing. No coherent theory has been published yet. There was only preliminary data.”
According to their temporary court appearances, the 4 suspects were foreign migrant employees who spoke little or no Russian. IN videos of their appearances in courtthey appeared to have been severely beaten, and photographs of their torture during interrogation, verified by The New York Times, circulated widely on social media. One of the suspects was 19-year-old Muhammadsobir Z. Fayzov He entered the courtroom in a wheelchair.
The detention of the 4 suspects raised questions on the regulation of labor migration to Russia. And Mikhail Sheremet, MP, reported the state agency RIA Novosti that he’ll call for the restoration of the death penalty in Russia.
Aurelien Breeden provided reports from Paris.
