Alexander Nemenov/AFP through Getty Images
Lukashenko, pictured right here in July 2023, might have muddied Putin’s claims that Ukraine was concerned within the attack on a Moscow concert hall.
CNN
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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko seems to have solid doubt on Russia’s claims that Ukraine was concerned within the brutal attack at a Moscow concert hall final week.
ISIS claimed accountability for the bloodbath, which killed not less than 139 individuals, and launched graphic footage of the incident, however Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly recommended, with out proof, that Ukraine had helped orchestrate it.
Putin on Saturday claimed {that a} “window” had been ready for the attackers to flee to Ukraine, which Kyiv has denied.
But Lukashenko, one in all Putin’s most loyal allies, on Tuesday appeared to contradict the Kremlin’s claims, saying that the attackers initially supposed to enter Belarus fairly than Ukraine.
“They could not enter Belarus. Their handlers… knew that it would be a very bad idea to try to enter Belarus, because Belarus immediately reinforced security measures,” Lukashenko mentioned, in keeping with Belarusian information company Belta.
Lukashenko mentioned he acquired experiences from Russian authorities “minutes” after the attack started and put Belarusian items on fight alert, establishing checkpoints on roads to stop the attackers coming into the nation.
“That’s why there was no chance they could enter Belarus. They realized it. So they took a turn and headed to the Ukraine-Russia border,” he mentioned.
The attackers stormed Crocus City Hall in a Moscow suburb on Friday, capturing civilians at level clean earlier than setting the constructing on fireplace, inflicting the roof to break down whereas concert-goers had been nonetheless inside.
Four suspects, who’re from the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan however labored in Russia on non permanent or expired visas, had been detained later Friday night time in Russia’s Bryansk area, close to the border with Ukraine and Belarus.
In his first nationwide handle after the attack, Putin on Saturday alleged that the boys “tried to hide and move towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border.”
Putin on Monday conceded the attack had been carried out by “radical Islamists,” however nonetheless tried to pin final accountability on Ukraine.
Kremlin
Putin lights a candle on Sunday in reminiscence of victims of the Crocus City Hall attack.
Other Kremlin officers have doubled down on the claims. Alexander Bortnikov, director of Russia’s Federal Security Services (FSB), alleged on Tuesday that Ukraine was concerned within the “training of militants in the Middle East.”
Ukraine has vehemently denied involvement within the attack and referred to as the Kremlin’s claims “absurd.” Others have speculated why the attackers would attempt to flee by a closely militarized part of the border, with a big Russian troop presence.
And Lukashenko, in trying to advertise Belarus’ standing as a reliable ally of Russia, might have inadvertently additional weakened Putin’s allegations.
Belta reported that Lukashenko agreed to “seal off its section of the road that could be used by the criminals” when he acquired intelligence from Russian officers, together with Bortnikov, that the attackers had been “moving in the direction of Bryansk.”
Lukashenko mentioned he and Putin exchanged telephone calls, claiming he accepted Putin’s request to assist seal off the roads into Belarus. “Absolutely. We are doing everything,” Lukashenko replied.
He mentioned he shared the data as a result of he was conscious that Putin had been reproached for his response to the tragedy. Putin had been criticized for not addressing the nation till greater than 19 hours after the attack started.
Instead, Lukashenko mentioned, he and Putin “did not sleep for 24 hours,” as they labored to deal with the menace.
Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters
Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a suspect within the attack, seems Sunday on the Basmanny district court docket in Moscow.
A complete of 11 individuals have been arrested in reference to the attack on the concert hall, Russian officers mentioned. Four appeared in a Moscow court docket on Sunday and three on Monday. It’s not clear if the remaining 4 are nonetheless in detention or have appeared earlier than a choose.
Three of the Tajik suspects had been bent double as they had been marched right into a Moscow courtroom on Sunday, whereas the fourth was in a wheelchair and appeared unresponsive. They had been charged with terrorism and face a most sentence of life in jail.
The males looked battered and bruised as they had been introduced into the courtroom. Videos circulated broadly on Russian social media appeared to indicate a few of them being violently interrogated, together with one which appeared to indicate using electrocution. In one other video, a suspect had a part of his ear reduce off and stuffed in his mouth.