The State Department rejects Russian accusations of Ukraine's involvement in the attack on Crocus City
Kyiv • UNN
The US State Department rejected Russia's accusations of Ukraine's involvement in the Crocus City terrorist attack, saying there was no evidence of Ukraine's involvement and calling the accusations Russian propaganda aimed at justifying aggression against Ukraine.
The United States excludes any involvement of Ukraine in the Crocus City terrorist attack. This was stated by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, UNN reports .
Details
First of all, this is simply not true. We have made it clear that there is no evidence of Ukraine's involvement in this, because Ukraine is not involved. And I would say that these comments by Russian officials, including President Putin, are just propaganda to justify their ongoing aggression against Ukraine
Context
In the evening of March 22, several people in camouflage uniforms started shooting from assault rifles in the concert hall and set the building on fire. The attack killed 137 people and injured 182.
The Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia has opened a criminal investigation into the terrorist attack. Russian media reported that after the attack, the attackers managed to escape in a car.
On March 23, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that "special services and law enforcement agencies in the Bryansk region, near the border with Ukraine, detained four suspects among the persons who committed the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall. It was reported that passports of Tajik citizens were found in the detainees' cars.
The FSB stated that the alleged perpetrators of the attack "planned to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border" and "had contacts on the Ukrainian side." This version was later supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine "categorically" rejected accusations by Russian officials of Ukraine's alleged "involvement" in the shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert hall.
