The United States on Thursday sharply criticized Russian officials for attempting to attribute the attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue to “Ukrainian nationalists,” with White House national security spokesman John Kirby likening them to “pretty good manure salesmen.”
“My uncle used to say that the best manure salesmen often carry their samples in their mouths. Russian officials seem to be pretty good manure salesmen,” Kirby told reporters. The colourful remark underscores the scepticism surrounding Moscow’s claims linking the assault to Ukraine.
Russian investigators announced that they had evidence implicating “Ukrainian nationalists” in the attack, which occurred last week at the concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, resulting in the deaths of at least 143 people.
According to the Russian Investigative Committee, their findings were based on interrogations of detained suspects, examination of seized technical devices, and analysis of financial transactions, which allegedly showed a connection to Ukrainian elements. The investigators further claimed that the attackers had received substantial financial support, including cash and cryptocurrency, from Ukraine.
However, the Russian authorities have yet to provide concrete evidence to support their assertions. Kirby dismissed Moscow’s claims as “nonsense propaganda,” highlighting the lack of substantiation for the accusations.
The attack on the concert hall was claimed by ISIS-K, a terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State operating in the Khorasan region. Propaganda materials released by ISIS-K depicted the assailants purportedly carrying out the attack, adding complexity to the narrative surrounding the incident.
Prior to the assault, the United States had issued warnings of potential extremist threats in Russia based on intelligence reports. Despite the acknowledgment by Russian President Vladimir Putin that “radical Islamists” were responsible for the attack, he persisted in insinuating Ukrainian involvement, a claim vehemently denied by Kyiv.
Following the attack, authorities swiftly apprehended 11 individuals within the first 24 hours, subsequently placing eight, including the suspected gunmen, in pre-trial detention. Notably, seven of the detainees hail from Tajikistan, while the eighth individual is from Kyrgyzstan, shedding light on the multinational nature of the investigation and potential links to extremist networks beyond Russia’s borders.
(With Inputs from AP)
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In a career spanning three decades and counting, Ramananda (Ram to his friends) has been the foreign editor of The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and the New Indian Express. He helped set up rediff.com’s editorial operations in San Jose and New York, helmed sify.com, and was the founder editor of India.com.
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