In Saturday evening's news broadcast on state-run Pervyj Kanal ("Channel One"), IS's self-claimed responsibility for the Moscow act was treated with skepticism. The New York Times reports.
Instead, it was suggested in the program that it is a so-called false flag operation carried out by Ukraine, possibly with the support of the West.
One commentator, Mikhail Leontjev, said the attack did not bear the hallmarks of IS and that it is "typical of European Nazis" to burn people inside buildings.
This runs directly counter to a series of statements in the international media from analysts and experts, who generally agree that IS's claim to have carried out the act is credible.
The Kremlin has instructed state media to underline all possible connections to Ukraine, media sources told Meduza.
.....................................
Clips of the suspects' interrogations are spread in state media
On Saturday, Russian state media published clips that allegedly show how three of the arrested terror suspects confess to the crime, independent Moscow Times and Meduza report.
In one of the clips, published by Ria, a man is seen lying on the ground while a person behind the camera holds his head and asks what he was doing in the concert hall.
- We killed people for money, says the man, and claims that he was offered the equivalent of over 100,000 kroner by Telegram contacts whose identity he does not know.
Another man is interviewed by a Tajik interpreter, and claims that he lived with the other perpetrators in a hostel before the attack.
A third man has a bloody shirt and a bandaged head when he is questioned. According to Meduza and the Moscow Times, clips of the man having his ear cut off and shoved into his mouth during the arrest are circulating on Russian Telegram, but these have not been verified.
Russia has not produced evidence of the men's involvement in the crime, and false videotaped confessions have previously been coerced by Russian police.
..........................................
Witness: They shot everyone down - quietly and methodically
Concertgoers waiting for the rock band Piknik's concert at Crocus City Hall in Moscow have spoken of the confusion and terror when the gunshots started ringing out.
- They didn't shoot upwards, they didn't shout, they didn't say "lay down, we will kill you" or something like that. They just went around and shot everyone down, quietly and methodically, says Anastasia Rodjonova.
Several testified that they first thought they heard some type of fireworks or sound effects. The perpetrators first started shooting at visitors in the entrance, and then continued into the concert venue, where people had just started to find their seats for the sold-out gig.
Some managed to escape the building, while others hid between the chairs, which the perpetrators then set on fire with flammable liquid. Some testify of how they were forced to jump over the fire to escape - and many remained in the now burnt down building.
133 people have been confirmed dead.
.......................................
Reactions to the concert attack
The UN and the US call for a joint fight against IS
UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for global cooperation against the terrorist group IS after the "completely unacceptable" terrorist attack in Moscow, reports CNN.
- We call on all countries to cooperate with each other to ensure that IS never has the capacity to strike again anywhere in the world, he says.
Similar tones come in a statement from the White House, writes AFP.
"IS is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere."
IS-K, the terrorist group's branch in Afghanistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow. The US had previously warned Russia that the group planned to attack the country.
......................................
Zelenskyi: Predictably, the scumbag Putin is trying to blame us for the deed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has made a first statement about the terrorist act in Moscow, writes AFP.
- What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious - Putin and the rest of the scum are just trying to blame it on someone else, he says.
That Putin waited a day to make a statement and then found a way to link the massacre to Ukraine is "completely predictable", Zelensky continues.
He calls Putin a "useless" leader and suggests that the hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers in Ukraine be used instead to fight terrorism at home.
In his speech on Saturday, Putin claimed that the terror suspects were on their way to the border with Ukraine when they were arrested, and that they had been given permission to cross it.
The Russian security service FSB also claimed that those arrested had contact with people in Ukraine while fleeing Moscow. No evidence for the allegations has been presented.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar