Russian FSB Chief Says US, UK, and Ukraine Could Have Been Involved in Moscow Terror Attack

Putin said the attack was committed by 'radical Islamists' but has hinted that Ukraine was involved.

by Dave DeCamp March 26, 2024

https://news.antiwar.com/2024/03/26/russian-fsb-chief-says-us-uk-and-ukraine-could-have-been-involved-in-moscow-terror-attack/

The head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday that the US, the UK, and Ukraine could have been involved in the terrorist attack on a concert hall outside of Moscow that killed 139 people.

FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov told reporters that Russia was trying to identify everyone who was involved in the massacre and was asked if the US, Britain, and Ukraine were involved.

“We think that this is so. In any case, we are now talking about the information that we have. This is general information, but they [investigators] also have concrete results,” Bortnikov replied, according to RT.

The ISIS affiliate based in Afghanistan, known as Islamic State – Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, has taken credit for the attack, a claim backed by the US. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that “radical Islamists” carried out the attack but suggested Ukraine could have been involved.

Putin also questioned the US assertion that ISIS-K was responsible. “We are seeing that the US, through various channels, is trying to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to their intelligence, there is allegedly no Kyiv trace in the Moscow terror attack — that the bloody terrorist act was committed by followers of Islam, members of the Islamic State group,” he said. “Those who support the Kyiv regime don’t want to be accomplices in terror and sponsors of terrorism, but many questions remain.”

If Russia believes that Ukraine or any NATO country was in some way responsible for the Moscow terrorist attack, it could lead to a major escalation of the war in Ukraine. The Russian military has already escalated its missile strikes across Ukraine in response to the Ukrainian attacks inside Russia.

According to TASS, Bortnikov noted that Ukraine had been increasing its attacks on Russian territory and said US and British intelligence were involved in the operations. “There have been drone strikes, strikes by uncrewed boats at sea, and incursions by groups of saboteurs and terrorist organizations into our territory,” he said.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has launched heavy drone and artillery attacks on Russian territory. The Russian Volunteer Corps, a neo-Nazi militia made up of Russian volunteers that have US armored vehicles, launched ground incursions into Russian border regions from Ukraine.