Russia links theater terrorists to Ukrainian nationalists

– by Luca Mirone – The Ukrainian lead behind the attack on the concert hall in Moscow, so far mentioned by the political authorities, starting with Vladimir Putin, has also been strengthened by the investigators, who have launched the first concrete accusations.

A week after the massacre, claimed by the Islamic State, the Russian investigative commission claimed to have “evidence” of “links” between the terrorists and “Ukrainian nationalists”, who had provided “significant” funding to the Tajik command (of Iranian origin) responsible for the attack on the Crocus town hall.

The position of the United States, identified together with Ukraine and the United Kingdom as possible perpetrators of the massacre, is that it is all “propaganda”.

In a note released by official agencies, Russian investigators working on the case of the concert hall attack reported the “first results”, obtained after the interrogation of the detainees, including the four attackers, “the analysis of the technical devices seized and the analysis of financial transactions information”.

From these emerged “evidence of his links with Ukrainian nationalists” and “large amounts of money and cryptocurrencies” which reached the command “from Ukraine” and were “used to plan this crime”.

Finally, they announced the arrest of a new suspect “involved in the financing plan” of the attack in Moscow. Eight people, in addition to the perpetrators of the attack, are currently in prison.

Already in recent days the Russian authorities had pointed the finger, more or less covertly, at Kiev and its allies, including the powerful head of the National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev; the director of the FSB secret services, Nikolai Bortnikov, and above all President Vladimir Putin, who, while admitting the Islamic nature of the attack, left the question of the perpetrators open, stating that the terrorists attempted to flee to Ukraine after the attack.

Now, investigators have also adopted the Kremlin narrative, but it is important to note that the Ukrainian accusations remain generic. The report does not yet mention the Kiev government, nor are specific groups mentioned, but only unspecified “nationalists”, without clarifying whether it is an organized group.

The line therefore remains ambiguous, probably to maintain pressure on the ?enemy? Volodymyr Zelenskyj at a time when the Ukrainian armed forces are grappling with the conflict.

This interpretation is promoted by independent Russian media such as Meduza, according to which the pro-government press received instructions from Moscow to highlight possible “traces” of Ukrainian involvement in the Crocus municipality massacre.

And there is also a recent report by the American news agency Bloomberg, according to which some close aides had informed Putin that there was no evidence of Kiev’s role in the massacre, but the Kremlin chief remained “determined to exploit the tragedy to try to unite the Russians.” in supporting the war in Ukraine.”

In addition to journalistic reconstructions, Western governments have also openly accused Russia of evoking the Ukrainian lead to the Moscow attack as a pretext to launch a new offensive in the invaded country.

Last night, in fact, a new message arrived from the State, which had already claimed responsibility for the massacre last Friday. The jihadist group that aspires to create a caliphate in Central Asia, including the territories of the former Soviet republics of the Caucasus, has released an audio praising the command. And he appealed to his followers to target “the crusaders wherever they are”.

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