Regardless of ISIS's claim, reiterated 24 hours later, Vladimir Putin raises the specter of Kiev's responsibility for the massacre at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow , warning that those "behind this barbaric terrorist act will be punished".

The "number one suspect" for Russia, where today there is national mourning, therefore remains Ukraine , where the four perpetrators of the attack wanted to take refuge thanks to a "window" prepared for them across the border, accused the president . A hypothesis immediately rejected by Kiev and strengthened in the words of Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky's advisor . "We are a state at war, on the borders there are soldiers and special forces everywhere, on both sides," he explained in an interview with Repubblica. «It is impossible to cross it, especially armed and in a car already reported and wanted by the secret services». According to Podolyak , the captured terrorists were going «to Belarus. Because there is no real border between Russia and Belarus , they could have retreated there to hide and reorganize." As for the fact that Moscow ignored the US alarm "it may be part of a strategy that aims to create the conditions to then blame Ukraine ", cool the countries' support for Kiev and "explain to its citizens why from now on will speak explicitly about war and no longer about a special military operation ."

The toll of the attack, carried out while around 6,000 spectators were waiting for the start of a concert by the rock band Picnic, has meanwhile risen dramatically. The confirmed deaths are over 130 , after new lifeless bodies were recovered from under the rubble of the concert hall, partially destroyed by a fire. 180 people were injured.

Putin, in a televised address to the nation, spoke of a " mass murder " of which adults and children were victims, like those carried out "by the Nazis in the occupied territories" in the Second World War.

THE ARRESTS – The internal intelligence service, the FSB, reported that the four accused of carrying out the assault were arrested with seven other people in the Bryansk region , about 350 kilometers south-west of Moscow. The suspected attackers, who according to Russian authorities are all foreigners, were traveling in a white Renault, which was blocked after a chase.

In a three-minute video released by Margarita Simonyan, one of the four arrested admitted in an initial summary interrogation that he had agreed to participate in the action for money after having followed the "lessons" of a "preacher" online , but did not do so. no mention of Ukraine. Another of the suspects described as coming from Tajikistan also confirms: " I had to kill people, it didn't matter which ones ."

Some Russian Telegram channels, including «Baza», publish footage of a third suspect Rajab Alizadeh, 30. The man explains that he threw the weapons used in the attack from the car in which he was travelling, as did the others who were in the vehicle which was then stopped. Then there are the very graphic images that show a Russian soldier cutting off the ear of one of the suspects and putting it in his mouth . All filmed via smartphone.

THE CLAIMS – It was ISIS who once again claimed responsibility for the attack , through its Amaq news agency, confirming that it was carried out by four of its "fighters", whose photographs it published. "The attack is part of the context of a furious war between the Islamic State and the countries fighting Islam", added Amaq, with apparent reference, among other things, to Russian military interventions in Syria and Africa".

THE CONVICTIONS – The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, condemned "the terrible attacks on Moscow and terrorism in all its forms". And the White House confirmed that the United States had warned the Russians in early March of a terrorist attack that could target "large gatherings" in Moscow, including concerts, as the US embassy wrote on its website.

The attack on Moscow "proves that regional crises must be resolved peacefully as soon as possible", underlined the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently confirmed his willingness to act as a mediator in the Ukrainian conflict.

In Italy , the Interior Ministry has ordered a further increase in security measures in a series of sensitive places. A meeting of the National Committee for Public Order and Security is scheduled for tomorrow dedicated to an analysis of the situation.

THE ALARM FROM POLAND – Meanwhile, the alarm comes from Poland according to which one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia during the night attack against Ukraine briefly violated Polish airspace . “The object entered Polish space near the city of Oserdow and remained there for 39 seconds,” the Warsaw Armed Forces reported on the social platform X. “During the entire flight it was observed by military radar systems.”

Previously, the army said Polish and allied aircraft had been activated during the attack to safeguard Poland's airspace.

(Unioneonline/vl)

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