Russia claims terror money came from Ukraine. The Islamic State has struck again

You can also listen to the article in audio version.

Russia’s fully state-controlled media said Thursday afternoon that investigators have strong evidence of terrorist links to Ukraine. That is: That threads were found between the regime in Kyiv and the group of persons who committed a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall last Friday. 143 people died.

However, the investigators did not release any of the evidence. They did not substantiate their claims. They practically only confirmed the words that – again without evidence – were uttered by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin immediately after the attack: That Ukraine is behind the terror. A country that Russia invaded militarily two years ago. The war has now lasted 764 days.

Putin’s declaration of Kiev’s guilt was taken up by Russian propaganda in the following days. And this despite the fact that the Islamic State has repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack. His followers even published footage shot right in the Crocus hall.

And the terrorist organization reacted even now to fresh statements from Moscow – by signing up for another attack. As Reuters reported, Islamic State spokesman Abu Huthajfa al-Ansari praised the fighters in a recorded message posted on Telegram. And he called on the group’s supporters to target “crusaders” everywhere – especially in the United States, Europe and Israel.

“The investigation found evidence of a connection between terrorists and Ukraine,” the investigative committee said on its Telegram channel. “The initial results of the investigation fully confirm the planning of the terrorists’ actions, thorough preparation and financial support by the organizers of this crime. As a result of working with detained terrorists, examining the technical equipment seized from them and analyzing information on financial transactions, evidence of their connection to Ukrainian nationalists was obtained,” the statement continued.

The RIA Novosti agency adds that, according to investigators, the perpetrators received “a significant amount of money and cryptocurrency from a neighboring country.”

Catching another person was supposed to help with this. “Another suspect involved in the terrorist financing scheme has been identified and detained,” the committee said in a statement.

Questions and Answers

RIA then recalls the words of the director of the FSB (the main successor agency of the KGB), Alexander Bortnikov, who said on Tuesday that it was Kiev who planned the terrorist attacks with the Islamists. And Western intelligence services also contributed to the attack.

“As he noted, the United States, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack,” writes the Russian agency. “Bortnikov emphasized that these are the facts that are available at the moment. It is still general information, but there is already some development in this matter.”

Images of detainees in connection with the attack near Moscow:

Kiev, London and Washington have repeatedly defended themselves against the claim. The governments and intelligence services of these countries, on the other hand, declared that they had no reason to doubt the perpetrators who claimed responsibility for the crime – that is, the guilt of the Islamic State.

And Washington stood up for Kiev even now. He considers the Russian investigative committee’s claim about Ukraine’s responsibility to be “nonsense”.

“I would like to respond to the nonsense and propaganda that has been coming from the Kremlin and the Russian government in recent days regarding the ISIS terrorist attack on the Krasnogorsk concert hall,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby was quoted as saying by The Hill. “Contrary to the public statements of everyone who has tried to shift the blame to Ukraine, the United States and everyone else to suit their political narrative, it is abundantly clear that ISIS is solely responsible for last week’s horrific terrorist attack in Moscow.”

The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, stated the same thing early Thursday evening. “Russia knew about preparations for a terrorist attack at least since February 15, 2024. This information reached the informants in Syria, from there it traveled to Moscow. Don’t let yourself be told fairy tales that it all materialized out of nowhere,” Ukrainian agency Unian quoted him as saying.

The bloodshed in the suburbs of Moscow is said to be the responsibility of the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K), which is the Afghan branch of the terrorist organization. The first mentions of it come from 2014, when it quickly gained a reputation as an extremely brutal group.

It is this branch of IS that has been targeting Russia for the past two years, explained terrorist organization analyst Colin Clarke. “ISIS-K accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood on its hands, citing Moscow’s interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria,” he noted for The New York Times.