Russia, on Saturday, said it has arrested 11 people, including four suspected gunmen in connection with a shooting rampage that killed 143 people in a concert hall near Moscow, the country’s capital.
The incident which occurred on Friday night is the deadliest attack in Russia for 20 years.
Militant Islamist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack but there were indications that Russia was pursuing a Ukrainian link, despite emphatic denials from Ukrainian officials that Kyiv had anything to do with it.
The FSB security service said “all four terrorists” were arrested while heading to the Ukrainian border, and that they had contacts in Ukraine.
It said they were being transferred to Moscow.
“Now we know in which country these bloody bastards planned to hide from pursuit – Ukraine,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
A senior Russian lawmaker, Andrei Kartapolov, said that if Ukraine was involved, then Russia must deliver a “worthy, clear and concrete” reply on the battlefield.
Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told Reuters: “Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack.
Gunmen kill 60 in Russia concert
“Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers’ army and military targets, not civilians.”
He said the FSB version that the suspects were arrested en route to Ukraine was “of course another lie from the Russian special services”.
Russian state TV published a video of one of the suspects, a young bearded man, being interrogated by the side of a road. She said the death toll had climbed to 143 but did not give the source of her information.
Russia’s Investigative Committee earlier said at least 115 had died in the attack, in which camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers in the Crocus City Hall near the capital.
Baza, a news outlet with good contacts in Russian security and law enforcement, said 28 bodies were found in a toilet and 14 on a staircase.
“Many mothers were found embracing their children,” it said.
Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said the attackers had fled in a Renault vehicle that was spotted by police in Bryansk region, about 340 km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow on Friday night and disobeyed instructions to stop.
He said two were arrested after a car chase and two others fled into a forest. From the FSB statement, it appeared they too were later detained.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, re-elected last Sunday for another six-year term, has repeatedly told Russians that various powers – including countries in the West – are seeking to sow chaos inside Russia.
The Kremlin said Putin had held conversations with the leaders of Belarus and Uzbekistan in which all sides affirmed their willingness to work together to fight terrorism.
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