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Beege covered all the updates on the terror attack in Moscow yesterday culminating with the big news that ISIS had claimed credit for the attack. But there are some more updates today starting with the death toll which has now climbed to 133 dead and more than 100 more injured.
Despite the claim of responsibility by ISIS and despite Russia having captured four of the shooters and identified them as foreigners who barely speak Russia, Putin is still seeking to twist this attack to his political advantage.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia laid the groundwork on Saturday for blaming Ukraine for the Moscow concert hall attack. And in making his first remarks on the assault more than 19 hours after it began, he pledged to punish the perpetrators, “whoever they may be, whoever may have sent them.”
Mr. Putin, in a five-minute televised address, claimed that someone in Ukraine had tried to help the attackers escape across the border from Russia before they were apprehended by Russian security services…
“They were trying to hide and were moving toward Ukraine,” Mr. Putin said, referring to the four men who carried out the attack and who the Kremlin said had been captured in western Russia. “Based on preliminary information, a window for crossing the border was prepared for them by the Ukrainian side.”
Putin did not mention ISIS in his speech today. Also not mentioned was the US warning about a possible terror attack which was given two weeks prior to this attack, a warning that specifically mentioned concerts as a possible target. This is from March 8:
The US Embassy in Russia issued an urgent warning of an “imminent” terrorist attack in Moscow — just hours after ISIS was thwarted from a planned massacre at a synagogue.
“The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,” the embassy said on its website.
