– AFP / AFP / VALENTIN RAKOVSKY
MOSCOW, April 5, 2024 (AFP) – Russian investigators on Friday said they were examining a Ukrainian lead in last month’s massacre at a Moscow concert hall that was claimed by the Islamic State.
IS has claimed responsibility on multiple occasions for the March 22 attack which killed over 140 people and injured 360 but Moscow has repeatedly implied that Kyiv or the West were involved.
Gunmen in camouflage stormed the Crocus City Hall venue on the outskirts of Moscow before setting the building on fire. Twelve suspects have been arrested including the four gunmen, who are all from the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan.
Russian investigators said data from one of the suspects’ phones showed that on the morning of February 24 last year — the second anniversary of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine — he had trawled for photographs of the Crocus City Hall and sent it to others.
It said the suspect “had confirmed all this in his statements”.
It said further photos were found on the same phone showing men in camouflage holding the Ukrainian flag in front of destroyed buildings.
“This data can support a link between the attack” and the conflict in Ukraine, the investigators said.