Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has spoken about the terrorist act against the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow for the first time, reports AFP.
Zelenskyi points to the fact that it took almost a day before Vladimir Putin spoke out – and then put the blame on Ukraine. Something the Ukrainian president calls “predictable”.
– Putin and the rest of the scum are just trying to blame someone else, he says according to the news agency.
“Have the guts to blame Russia”
But the Russian Foreign Ministry is hitting back against Zelensky’s statement.
“The only head of state who has the guts to blame Russia for the terrorist attack is Zelenskyy,” she writes on Telegram, according to The Express.
He adds that the soldiers sent to their deaths by Russia could instead have been fighting terrorism in their own country.
133 people have been confirmed dead and over 140 injured in what is the deadliest attack in Russia in 20 years.
The Afghan branch of the terrorist organization IS has claimed responsibility.
Propaganda and conspiracies
Even so, conspiracy theories and fake information have spread. During his speech, Putin claimed that the suspected perpetrators were arrested on their way to Ukraine on Saturday. He claimed that there was a prepared transition to Ukraine and, according to the Meduza newspaper, the Kremlin has called on all pro-regime media to report on all possible leads that could lead to Ukraine.
The BBC has also reported that the Russian television channel NTV has spread an AI-manipulated video in which Ukraine’s top security chief claims responsibility.
Kiev has denied all accusations of involvement and according to the White House there are no indications that they were behind the terrorist attack.