Ukrainian military intelligence was directly involved in the deadly terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall just outside Moscow in March, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Aleksandr Bortnikov, has said.
He added that the investigation into the attack is still being conducted, but all indications are that Ukraine was behind the assault.
“The investigation is ongoing, but we can already say with certainty that Ukraine’s military intelligence has a direct relation to this attack,” Bortnikov said at a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) special services leaders’ gathering in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
He said the preparation and financing of the attack, as well as the terrorists’ escape from the scene afterwards, was coordinated over the internet by members of Wilayat Khorasan, also known as Islamic State – Khorasan, or ISIS-K.
He added that two of the four criminals involved arrived in Russia from Türkiye shortly before the attack. Upon completion, he said, “the terrorists received a clear command to move to the Ukrainian border, where a ‘window’ had been prepared for them.”
