This Sunday, Russia held Ukraine responsible for the March 22 terrorist attack in Moscow, among other attacks, and demanded that Kiev arrest and hand over the head of the Security Services (SBU) and other alleged suspects.
However, the SBU, refuses to hand over the head of the Security Services to Moscow and considers the demand “useless”.
According to Ukraine, the requirement “sounds particularly cynical coming from the terrorist state itself,” especially because Putin is the target of an international arrest warrant.
According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited by the Spanish agency EFE, Moscow “delivered to the Ukrainian authorities the demand, within the framework of the convention on terrorist attacks committed with bombs and the convention on the financing of terrorism, the arrest and immediate surrender of all people involved in the attacks”.
“The list of demands includes the detention of the head of the SBU, Vassili Maliuk, who cynically acknowledged on March 25 Ukraine’s involvement in the Crimean bridge explosion in October 2022 and revealed details of preparations for other terrorist attacks in Russia,” indicated Russian diplomacy.
In the same informative note, Moscow stated that the March 22 attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall, on the outskirts of the Russian capital, which caused 144 deaths, “not the first terrorist attack” against the Russian Federation “in the last times”It is pointed out that investigations point to Ukrainian involvement.
The ministry led by Serguei Lavrov recalled other explosive attacks on Russian territory, like those who killed journalist Daria Dugina and blogger Vladen Tatarski, and seriously injured writer Yevgeni Prilepin and his driver.
Moscow also recalled the death of five people during the explosion on the Crimean bridge, the 42 injured in the explosion in St. Petersburg that killed blogger Tatarski and the victims of the border raids by the Russian Volunteer Corps, organization fighting on the Ukrainian side.
“The fight against international terrorism is a responsibility of all States. Russia demands that the Kiev regime immediately cease any support for terrorist actions, hand over those responsible and compensate the victims for damages,” the ministry added.
For Russian diplomacy, “Ukraine’s failure to comply with its commitments regarding anti-terrorism conventions will lead to international criminal liability”.
According to the latest official data, the attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall, 20 kilometers from the center of Moscow, also caused more than 150 people to be hospitalized.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB, successor to the Soviet KGB) detained 11 people presumably involved in the attack, including four terrorists who directly participated in the attack.
The suspects in the attack, who offered resistance, were detained on a road in the Briansk region, which borders Ukraine, where they presumably intended to escape.
Russia admitted that the attack on the outskirts of Moscow was perpetrated by Islamists, but insists on “Ukrainian track” and claims to have proof of Kiev financing terrorists.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State.
