More than 50 percent of Russians believe that Ukraine was behind the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow. This was shown by a recent survey conducted by the Open Minds Institute, the results of which were reported by the Financial Times. 652 respondents took part in the survey.
Russian investigators and state officials blame Ukraine for planning the March 22 terrorist attack, despite the fact that the Islamic State terrorist organization has repeatedly claimed responsibility. Russian investigators say they have evidence for their version, but have not made it public.
According to the mentioned survey, 27 percent of respondents believe the Islamic State version, and about six percent blame the so-called “collective West”.
The research also showed that respondents between the ages of 18 and 30 who condemned the war in Ukraine were more likely to believe that the Islamic State was behind the attack. Among all critics of the war, 50 percent of people thought so, and only 12 percent of war supporters shared the same opinion.
Over 75 percent of all respondents consider Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a “completely reliable source of information.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on Ukraine not to continue “terrorist actions”, to extradite those responsible to Russia and to compensate for the damage. Moscow links the attack against the concert hall to attacks against Russian refineries and other military targets. Kiev indirectly supports them, but refuses to participate in the massacre of 144 people in Krasnogorsk.
