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Emergency services in the ruins of the Crocus City Hall near Moscow

Photo: Obtained By Reuters / REUTERS

Four days after the terrorist attack near Moscow, the search for missing people in the burned-out and partially collapsed concert hall was stopped. "I can report that there are no more victims under the rubble," the head of the Moscow region's disaster control agency, Sergei Poletykin, reported on Tuesday. "The search dog handlers have finished their work, the rescuers have finished their work." An area of ​​8,000 square meters had been searched, said the governor of the Moscow area, Andrei Vorobyov. Around 1,000 civil defense forces were deployed, he wrote on his Telegram channel.

In last Friday's attack, at least 139 people were killed and almost 200 were injured when four gunmen opened fire in the Crocus City Hall concert hall. It was the worst attack on Russian soil in more than 20 years. The terrorist militia “Islamic State Khorasan Province” (ISPK) claims responsibility for the attack. Western security authorities and experts consider the letter to be credible. According to its own statements, the USA had already warned of possible impending Islamist attacks in Russia long before the attack.

Russia continues to blame Ukraine

Russia's security authorities have now arrested several suspected Islamist suspects. However, Russian officials continue to suggest that Ukraine may be involved in the attack. Russia did not provide any evidence of this. Ukraine denies any involvement.

The secretary of Russia's National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, made new allegations against Kiev this morning. When asked by journalists whether the so-called "Islamic State" or Ukraine was behind the attack, Patrushev replied, according to the state agency Tass: "Of course Ukraine." The 72-year-old repeatedly explained how he came to this assessment as an ardent supporter of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, appeared somewhat more reserved. He is counting on the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to do everything possible "to ensure that the criminals receive a fair punishment, as required by Russian law." On Monday, Putin confirmed that the attack on Crocus City Hall was carried out by Islamist terrorists. At the same time, as he did at the weekend, he made it clear that he sees a Ukrainian trail. Russia wants to know “who the client is.” Putin therefore assumes that Islamists carried out the order for the mass murder, but that the masterminds are located elsewhere. He sees a motive in Ukraine, not IS.

czl/dpa