Putin said that the Moscow attack is consistent with Ukraine's threats to his country (Reuters-Sputnik)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the attack that targeted a concert hall in Moscow was carried out by what he described as Islamic extremists, but he raised questions about their motives, while Reuters published details about the passage of these suspects through Turkey.

Putin said today, Monday, during a government meeting, the proceedings of which were broadcast on television, “We know that the crime was committed by Islamic extremists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries,” but he added that the attack is consistent with a broader campaign of Ukrainian threats to his country.

The Russian President believed that "it is important to answer the question raised about why, after committing their crime, the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine. Who was waiting for them there?" Kiev denies any involvement in the attack.

Putin added, "This terrible act may be only an episode in a series of attempts by those who have been fighting our state since 2014 at the hands of the neo-Nazi regime ruling in Kiev."

The Russian President stated that those who planned the attack "hoped to sow panic and discord in our society, but they were met with unity and determination to resist this evil."

About 140 people were killed and nearly 180 others were injured in the attack that occurred last Friday evening in the suburb of Krasnogorsk, northwest of Moscow, where gunmen stormed the Crocus Hall during a rock concert and opened fire on the attendees, and also set fire to the building, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.

The authorities arrested 11 people, including 4 suspected perpetrators, in the Russian province of Bryansk near the Ukrainian border. The Russian Federal Security Service said that they were planning to cross the border and were in contact with people on the Ukrainian side.

The four suspects - who are of Tajik origin - appeared before a court in Moscow yesterday, Sunday, where a decision was issued to detain them pending investigation on terrorism charges.

The Islamic State - Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack, which was consistent with the accusations made by the United States and France against the organization.

One of the four suspects accused by Moscow of carrying out the attack (Reuters)

Between Türkiye and Russia

On the other hand, Reuters news agency quoted a Turkish security official as saying that the suspects had entered Turkey and stayed there briefly to renew their Russian residency documents, but they had not turned to extremism there.

The official - who requested anonymity - added that there were no arrest warrants against the suspects, which means that they could have traveled freely between Turkey and Russia, noting that they had lived in Moscow for a long time.

The security official said that two of them traveled from Turkey to Moscow on the same flight on March 2.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies