As this publication covered this morning, Russian Federation Security Council Secretary Patrushev leveled the first official accusations of Ukrainian involvement in the March 22nd Crocus City Hall terror attacks which left hundreds dead and wounded. However, as is typical with the Putin administration, a whole-of-government doubling down on these claims has commenced.
Putin and Lavrov Offer Restrained Comments
Immediately following Patrushev’s comments, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told press that his country will handle the investigation of the events alone and that “the help of the West with its double standards will not be needed”, closing off the possibility of an independent investigation. In an address this morning to the General Prosecutor’s Office staff, President Putin vowed that the investigation will continue, but also called on the prosecutors to pay special attention to security in educational institutions and children’s recreational areas.
FSB Doubles Down
However, the most significant development came when FSB Director Bortnikov told press that a “terrorist threat” in Russia remains and that the Crocus City Hall attack was an attempt to undermine the security situation in the country. He went on that Ukraine was expecting to receive the terrorists by March 22nd and “welcome them as heroes”. Bortinkov went on to say that “radical Islamists” carried out the attack with help from Ukrainian intelligence services and that the Russian Federation reacted to U.S. intelligence sharing on the threat. However, he did also qualify his remarks that the overall organizer of the attack has not yet been identified, despite all four gunmen being in custody. Bortnikov summarized that the United States, Ukraine and the United Kingdom were “behind” the attack. This reporting originated from Russian state-owned media outlets such as TASS and Ria Novosti
Belarusian President Lukashenko told press that he will share information about the alleged organizer with President Putin, alluding to some sort of insider knowledge on the attack.
