The US government announced today that "there is no involvement of Ukraine" in the massacre in the suburbs of Moscow, after Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the possible connection of terrorists to Ukraine, because they allegedly tried to escape to that country.
There is no evidence that Ukraine was involved in the massacre in which 137 people died, and responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, US Vice President Kamala Harris said today.
"The Islamic State bears full responsibility for the attack. There was no involvement of Ukraine," said an unnamed spokesman for the US National Security Council.
Washington commented on yesterday's speech by the Russian president who condemned the "barbaric terrorist" act and added that the "four perpetrators" of the attack were arrested "while heading towards Ukraine", without mentioning the Islamic State.
The attack took place on Friday in a concert hall located in Krasnogorsk, northwest of Moscow. It is the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in 20 years and the largest Islamic State attack in Europe.
The Islamic State, which Russia is fighting in Syria and which is also active in the Russian Caucasus, has already carried out attacks on Russian soil since late 2010. However, the jihadist group has never claimed responsibility for such a large-scale attack.
The Islamic State announced on Telegram on Friday evening that it was responsible for the attack and that it was part of "a war with countries that fight against Islam."
However, neither Putin nor the Russian security services accused the Islamic State, but announced that the suspects in the attack had "contacts on the Ukrainian side" and that they were planning to flee to that country. They did not provide details of the nature of that contact or evidence of its existence.
"Ukraine has nothing to do with it," said adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Mihailo Podoljak, who called Russia's accusations "absurd."
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