SKEWING TERROR
Moment Putin’s top security henchman insists Ukraine is responsible for Moscow massacre…despite ISIS revelling in blame
Meanwhile, Russia FSB's chief has added two powerhouse nations to his list of culprits alongside Ukraine
THIS is the moment Vladimir Putin’s top security henchman declared Ukraine was responsible for the horror Moscow massacre.
Nikolai Patrushev's quick three-word response shows the Kremlin's craving in blaming Ukraine for the ISIS-claimed terror attack.
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Patrushev is the powerful secretary of the Russian Security Council which includes defence chiefs and spymasters.
The former head of the FSB security service, the 72-year-old is Putin’s most senior security aide and is seen as a key architect of both the war in Ukraine and the repression which has engulfed Russia in recent years.
A clip shows a smirking Patrushev being asked “Was it ISIS or Ukraine?”, to which he quickly replied: “Ukraine, of course.”
Despite ISIS claiming responsibility and Ukraine vehemently denying any involvement, the Vlad aide was lighting-quick to blame Ukraine even before an investigation into Friday's inferno took place.
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Patrushev said: “a lot of things point: to Ukraine being behind the atrocity.
“The Investigative Committee will analyse everything now, and there will be information.
“And special services and law enforcement agencies, they have it all, they will tell about it in time.”
Patrushev's security services were also catastrophically absent from the Crocus City Hall when the shooting began and slow to respond, according to multiple accounts.
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At the same time, his own security council was reported to have been warned of the risk of an ISIS atrocity several days before the Moscow attack, it is claimed.
They were reportedly even told that Tajikistan citizens could be used for a strike in Russia.
Moscow massacre ISIS suspects paraded by cops - why Putin wants to show off their injuries
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Patrushev's men were monitoring ISIS-K, and were aware that the organisation had tried but failed to stage atrocities in Austria, Germany and Kyrgyzstan, according to Dossier Centre.
Independent investigation outlet reported: “A few days before the terrorist attack, members of the Security Council received a warning that Tajik citizens could be used in terrorist attacks on Russian territory.
“Even before the attack on Crocus City Hall, a source close to the intelligence services told the Dossier Centre about this.”
US AND BRITAIN 'INVOLVED'
FSB chief General Alexander Bortnikov, 72, added the United States and Britain to his list of culprits alongside Ukraine, Russian state news outlet TASS reported.
Another quoted him as saying Western intelligence services and Ukraine needed the attack to sow panic in Russia.
He said: “We believe that the action was prepared both by the radical Islamists themselves and, naturally, by Western intelligence services.
"The Ukrainian intelligence services themselves are directly related to this."
Asked if the US, Britain and Ukraine were behind the atrocity, he replied: “Well I think so.”
He added: “Anyway, we're talking about the facts that we have them.
“This is general information, so to speak, but there are already some developments.”
Bortnikov accused the US, Britain and Ukraine of being behind the terrorist strike at Crocus City Hall, claiming that the “killers” were to be “greeted as heroes” when they crossed the border.
He also vowed to assassinate the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, who has been behind some of Ukraine’s most successful operations including the use of kamikaze drones.
The veteran counterintelligence chief was asked by a journalist: “Is Budanov our legitimate target, and the rest of the leadership of Ukraine's security services?”
The Putin-loyal spymaster replied: “All those who commit crimes against Russia and Russian citizens are a legitimate target.”
When asked why are they still alive, Bortnikov said: “All ahead.”
He claimed that the SBU - the Ukrainian equivalent of the SBU - should be branded a terrorist organisation as it allegedly trained Islamic militants in the Middle East to attack Russia.
On the alleged link to Ukraine over the Crocus City Hall massacre, the FSB chief backed up Putin in saying there was a “window” for the “terrorists” to escape to Ukraine.
But he said: “I don't want to be unsubstantiated, in order to say some unverified or emotional information, to base it on, we need to talk about facts.
"We will be guided by facts in our further work.
“A lot is being done now to identify all the participants in this massacre both here in the country and, of course, abroad.”
But then he contracted himself to say he knew the alleged killers were to be given a warm welcome on reaching Ukraine.
“I'll let you in on a little secret, they were going to be greeted as heroes on the other side,” said Bortnikov.
“That phrase, that's what I'm saying for the moment.
“Let's see where the statements of the scoundrels who are now under investigation lead.”
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Yet given that the detainees have suffered torture - one with his ear cut off, another with electrodes attached to his genitals - they may say whatever the FSB wants to hear.
Blaming the West, he said: “The terrorist attack in Crocus was needed by Western intelligence services and Ukraine in order to shake up the situation and create panic in society in Russia.”
Who are ISIS-K and why would they attack Putin's Russia?
RUSSIA is reeling after four terror suspects violently murdered 139 people in Friday's Crocus City Hall massacre in Moscow.
But despite Vladimir Putin's attempts to place the blame on Ukraine, it is a regional branch of the Islamic State terrorist group, ISIS-K, who have stepped forward and claimed accountability for the horror attack.
Who are ISIS-K?
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality.
One of the most active regional affiliates of the Islamic State militant group, ISIS-K has seen its membership decline since peaking around 2018, with the Taliban and US forces inflicting heavy losses.
But it is feared that ISIS-K has been quietly recruiting and growing its numbers once more and is considered an ongoing threat by the US.
General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command, told Congress last March that ISIS-K was quickly developing the ability to conduct "external operations" in Europe and Asia.
Friday's attack has seen Isis-K has take over from Chechen rebels as the perpetrators of the most serious attacks in Russia, including the bombing of the St Petersburg metro in 2017, which left 15 dead.
What attacks have the carried out?
ISIS-K has a history of attacks, including against mosques, inside and outside Afghanistan.
In September 2022, ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul.
The group was also responsible for an attack on Kabul's international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and scores of civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country.
Isis-K has been behind a series of smaller-scale plots, including an attempt earlier this month to attack a synagogue in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow.
Why would they attack Russia?
Jihadist terrorist movements have long posed a serious threat to Russia.
While the attack by ISIS-K in Russia on Friday was a dramatic escalation, experts said the group has opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years.
The group is also believed to see Russia as equivalent to the US in its “hatred” for Islam.
"ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticising Putin in its propaganda," said Colin Clarke of Soufan Center, a New York-based research group.
Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said ISIS-K "sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims."
He added that the group also counts as members a number of Central Asian militants with their own grievances against Moscow.
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