Putin tells Russians Ukraine linked to attack which killed 115, claims denied by Kyiv officials

Guardian:

Moscow concert hall attack: Putin tells Russians Ukraine linked to attack which killed 115, claims denied by Kyiv officials

23.55 AEDT
Putin: all four attackers were detained while heading to Ukraine after attack

In his address to the nation Russian president Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia believes it has apprehended all four men who directly staged the attack at the Crocus City Hall. He said they were all apprehended heading towards Ukraine.

All reports so far have suggested the arrests happened in Bryansk, a region to the south-west of Moscow heading towards the Russia-Ukraine border.

In his speech, Putin asserted that on the Ukrainian side they were preparing to receive the men. He said:

All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, were found and detained. They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. A total of 11 people were detained.

The Federal Security Service of Russia and other law enforcement agencies are working to identify and uncover the entire accomplice base of terrorists: those who provided them with transport, outlined escape routes from the crime scene, prepared caches, caches of weapons and ammunition.

Earlier today Ukraine’s presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak suggested that the Russian account of events bore no relation to reality, saying the wanted men were moving towards “blocked border crossings where there is active fighting and where every metre is saturated with Russian security forces.”