Moscow attack investigation intensifies, ISIS claims responsibility.
As Russia continues probing the deadly Moscow shopping mall shooting that claimed over 130 lives, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility and released attack visuals.
ISIS’ Amaq agency published photos and video footage allegedly showing four gunmen opening fire and engaging security forces at the Crocus City shopping complex on March 23.
Meanwhile, Russian TV aired interrogation clips of four suspects detained in Bryansk, near the Ukraine border, on Saturday.
“I shot people…for money,” one suspect is heard saying, claiming he was offered 500,000 rubles for the attack. Officials said the foreign nationals had links in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin vowed “just and inevitable punishment” for organisers and perpetrators in his address. “We will identify all who prepared this atrocity,” he asserted.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed allegations of Kyiv’s involvement, accusing Russia of seeking diversionary tactics.
“Putin and other thugs are just trying to blame someone else. It’s obvious they always find someone else responsible,” he said.
As rescue operations continue under Moscow governor Andrei Vorobyov’s monitoring, the casualty figure rose to 133 dead, with over 100 injured. Next, the media reported bodies were recovered from toilets and stairwells.
Investigators face mounting pressure to unearth the full contours of Russia’s worst terror attack in two decades.
