Attack in Russia: authorities ignore Daesh claims

After the attack that occurred on Friday, March 22, near Moscow, Russia, and was claimed by Daesh, the Russian authorities have still not, this Sunday, March 24, accused the Islamist group.

Russia ignores Daesh's claim. After the attack on Friday March 22 at Crocus City Hall, near Moscow, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack that left more than 130 dead. On Telegram, the terrorist organization, which Russia is fighting in Syria and which is active in the Russian Caucasus, claimed that the assault had been carried out by four of its members and took place "in the context [...] of the raging war" between the group and "the countries fighting Islam", recalls BFMTV. Although ISIS has already carried out attacks in Russia since 2010, the group has never claimed responsibility for an attack of this magnitude.

This Sunday, March 24, neither Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke on television on Saturday, nor the security services (FSB) blamed ISIS. The FSB claims that the suspects arrested near the Russian-Ukrainian border have “contacts in Ukraine” where they planned to flee. The Ukrainian presidential adviser strongly rejected the accusations, calling them "absurd." “Ukraine has not the slightest link with the incident,” he insisted.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday he hoped that this attack would not become "a pretext" for an "escalation of violence", in a clear allusion to Ukraine. However, at dawn, Russian forces launched a new air attack on kyiv this Sunday.