Russia blames West and Kyiv for Moscow jihadist attack

Russia says 139 people were killed when four armed men burst into the Crocus City Hall complex on Friday evening. Another 22 remain in a serious condition, including two children, officials say. Four citizens of Tajikistan have appeared in court accused of carrying out the massacre. Four other suspects have been accused of aiding terrorism.

The Russian leader acknowledged during a televised meeting on Monday: “We know the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists. we want to know who ordered it. He argued that many questions remained unanswered, repeating an unfounded claim that the attackers had tried to flee south to Ukraine. Security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev doubled down on Mr Putin’s claim on Tuesday.

Putin was talking to himself again. Again, he blames Ukraine. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned the Russian accusations: “Putin was speaking to himself. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will not allow Russian troops to enter Ukraine.

Russia has been accused of sending troops into Ukraine to fight against the Islamic State (IS) IS has claimed responsibility for attacks in Ukraine, but the government says it is only trying to protect its citizens. Mr Putin rejected the warning as provocative only last week. Russia’s FSB announced on Tuesday that it had foiled an attack by pro-Ukraine Russian fighters in the southern city of Samara. The Russian leader accused the US of using its warning of an imminent attack to destabilise our society.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said France had been on maximum alert since Sunday night. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said two attacks had been foiled since the start of the year. The Moscow attack is blamed by US intelligence on a regional branch of IS called Islamic State-Khorasan. Paris is due to host the Olympic Games in fourth months’ time.

Interior minister said main threat was homegrown but external IS threat was seeing a resurgence. 4,000 extra soldiers would be deployed across France in the coming days. Turkey said it had arrested 147 people suspected of links to IS in simultaneous raids across 30 cities. Italy says it has intensified security ahead of the Easter holidays.

Ankara has confirmed that two of the four suspected attackers visited Turkey weeks before the Moscow attack. There was no warrant for their arrest, and they were able to travel freely there as there was no arrest warrant for them.