Russia Deems US Position on Probe Into Crocus Terrorist Attack as 'Biased' - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia considers the position of the United States on the investigation into the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow as "biased," Washington is trying to "put Ukraine out of harm's way," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

On Tuesday, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov said the first information received from suspects in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack proved a Ukrainian trace. He added that, while radical Islamists had prepared the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall, the Ukrainian special forces were involved. The Western intelligence and Ukraine needed the attack to create panic in Russian society, Bortnikov also said, adding that the mastermind behind the terrorist attack has not been identified yet.

"They exposed themselves. They also started screaming, not calling for an investigation, but began to put Ukraine out of harm's way. Their bias and involvement in this story are obvious. If it had not been there, the first statements would have been what they should have been, namely about the need for investigation, probe, presentation of facts," Zakharova stressed.

A shooting occurred last Friday in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, just outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that a number of gunmen in camouflage broke into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. The Russian Investigative Committee said that at least 139 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said last Friday that there were no indications pointing to the involvement of Ukraine or Ukrainian nationals in the attack on the Crocus City Hall.