Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 25 said the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow was committed by radical Islamists.
Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists "whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries."
Putin did not mention the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for the attack and instead again attempted to implicate Ukraine and the United States without providing evidence.
"We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists....But we also see that the United States is trying to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that there is supposedly no trace of Kyiv in the Moscow terrorist attack," Putin said.
SEE ALSO: Kremlin Silent About Evidence That Moscow Attack Suspects Were AbusedKyiv and Washington have dismissed Putin's assertions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vehemently denied any involvement in the attack, saying Putin was always seeking to blame "someone else.”
Zelenskiy referred to Putin's comments in his nightly video message on March 25.
"Again, he accuses Ukraine. A sick and cynical creature. Everyone is a terrorist to him except for himself although he has been fueled by terror for two decades already,” Zelenskiy said.
The White House said on March 24 that the Islamic State-Khorasan bore sole responsibility for the attack.
"There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever," U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on March 24.
French President Emmanuel Macron on March 25 said France has intelligence pointing to "an IS entity" as responsible. Macron said it was a branch of Islamic State that "planned the attack and carried it out," adding the same terrorist group had plotted attacks in France.
The attack on March 22 on Crocus City Hall just outside Moscow left 139 people dead, according to a new death toll released during the meeting. More than 180 people were injured, and 97 of them remain in the hospital, officials said.
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The attackers shot and killed concertgoers as they waited in line to get in and then entered the auditorium, where they killed more people before setting fire to the vast concert hall.
According to Putin, the attack "may only be a link" in a series of attacks carried out by those backing Ukraine’s fight against Russia's full-scale invasion. He did not specify who he meant but previously blamed the "collective West" for starting the war.
An investigation must uncover who ordered the attack, he said, adding that it was necessary to find out why the terrorists "tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there."
Putin claimed on March 23 that four gunmen were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, which he said "had prepared a window for them to cross the border." Putin provided no evidence to support this.