A video which appears to have been shot by the attackers broadcast on accounts of the Islamic State organization
According to the SITE groupspecializing in anti-terrorism research, a video supposedly shot by the attackers of Crocus City Hall, in a suburb near Moscow, was broadcast on social network accounts usually used by the Islamic State (IS) organization.
“The attack was carried out by four fighters from the[organisation] Islamic State armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and incendiary bombs », the jihadist movement said on Telegram on Saturday. The Islamic State in Khorasan (EI-K), an Afghan branch of the organization, had already claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday evening.
This one minute and thirty-one second video shows individuals with blurred faces, armed with assault rifles, in what appears to be Crocus City Hall. The attackers fired several bursts, numerous inert bodies littered the ground and we could see the start of a fire in the background.
Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor the Russian security services (FSB) have accused the jihadist group, despite the claim.
On the other hand, the FSB affirmed on Saturday that the suspects in the attack – eleven people, including the four alleged attackers, were arrested, according to the Kremlin – had “contacts” in Ukraine. It is important to specify that with this formulation (of “contacts”) the FSB does not directly accuse the kyiv authorities of having participated in the attack. Furthermore, the FSB did not give details on the nature of these “contacts” nor any proof of their existence.
The Russian president assured Saturday, in a televised address, that “the four direct authors [de l’attentat]all those who shot and killed people »had been arrested while they “tried to flee and headed towards Ukraine”. “According to initial data [des enquêteurs], a passage had been prepared on the Ukrainian side for [leur permettre de] cross the border [russe] »he continued.
Ukraine, which denied any involvement in this attack on Friday evening, once again rejected the Russian accusations, described as“untenable and absurd”SATURDAY. “Ukraine has not the slightest connection with the incident”insisted the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday he hoped that this terrorist attack would not become ” an excuse “ to one “escalation of violence”in a clear allusion to Ukraine.