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Vladimir Putin has claimed the gunmen behind the Moscow concert hall terror attack attempted to flee to Ukraine in the aftermath of the mass shooting.

The allegation, made by the Russian president during an address to the nation, came despite the Islamist terror group Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) claiming responsibility for Friday night’s attack, in which at least 130 people were killed.

Ukraine strongly denied any involvement in the shooting, which comes two weeks after the US shared intelligence with Russian security officials warning that “extremists” had imminent plans for an attack in Moscow.

In an address to the nation on Saturday, Mr Putin described the shooting as a “bloody and barbaric terrorist attack”.

He also claimed that Russia had intelligence which suggested Ukraine had prepared a “window” to allow the gunmen across the Ukrainian border.

“All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, were found and detained,” Mr Putin said.

“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.”

Moscow shooting latest: Putin says terrorist ‘tackled by spectator’

On its Telegram page, Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks. These claims have not been independently verified by Sky News.
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Footage from the attack

In this photo taken from video released by Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, a Kalashnikov assault rifle lies on the ground as Investigators from the Investigative Committee of Russia together with the operational units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, work the scene after a terrorist attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Several gunmen burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)
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A Kalashnikov assault rifle lies on the ground as officials from the Investigative Committee of Russia investigate the attack. Pic: AP

He also declared Sunday as a day of mourning and said those responsible could “expect only one thing, they can expect punishment”.

On Saturday afternoon, officials in Russia said at least 133 people had died in the attack on the 6,000-capacity Crocus City Hall, in the western Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk – making it the second-deadliest single terror attack in Russia’s history.

As concert-goers gathered in the hall, the four men, armed with Kalashnikov automatic weapons, arrived in a minivan and walked calmly towards the metal detectors, before opening fire on civilians, often at point-blank range.

Russian investigators said the men began to set fire to the building during the shooting.

A Russian National Guard serviceman in front of Crocus City Hall. Pic: AP
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A Russian National Guard serviceman in front of Crocus City Hall. Pic: AP

A massive blaze is seen at the Crocus City Hall. Pic: AP
Image:
A massive blaze is seen at the Crocus City Hall. Pic: AP

Hours later, IS-K, a regional branch of the Islamic State militant group operating in Central Asia and Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group’s Amaq news agency said on the social media site Telegram that the attack came “within the context of a raging war between the Islamic State and countries fighting Islam”.

Central Asia is a fertile recruiting ground for IS-K, as are the restive republics of the Russian Federation, Ingushetia, Dagestan and Chechnya.

The group claims Mr Putin and his regime are killing Muslims and have previously pointed to Russia’s military operations in Chechnya, Syria, and Afghanistan.

Promo for The World with Yalda Hakim special programme on the Moscow attack.

Russia’s interior ministry said all four of the gunmen were foreign nationals, but did not specify which country they were from.

Some of the suspects were shown being interrogated on the side of the road in footage published by Russian media and Telegram channels with close ties to the Kremlin.

Russian media said the men had fled the scene in a white car and that the men were detained in the Bryansk region, about 210 miles (340km) southwest of Moscow.

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Putin vows to ‘punish’ terrorists

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Following the attack, two anonymous US officials said Washington had intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.

They also said the US had warned Russia in recent weeks about the possibility of an attack – ahead of the US embassy in Moscow issuing a warning to Americans in the city.

What is IS-K and why would it target Russia?


Alex Rossi - Middle East correspondent

Alex Rossi

International correspondent

@alexrossiSKY

Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) has taken credit for attacks by other terror networks in the past, but it is almost certainly behind the deadly assault in Russia, though nothing is impossible.

The group has claimed responsibility, and the chatter picked up by Western intelligence services in the days leading up to the atrocity also indicated something was coming.

The number of people killed in Friday’s shooting near Moscow is grim and likely to keep climbing.

Many people presumed Islamic State (IS) had been neutered, but it has been growing in strength in recent years, particularly IS-K.

Click here to read Alex Rossi’s full analysis

“We did warn the Russians appropriately,” one of the US officials said.

Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov, meanwhile, denied any Ukrainian involvement.

“Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack,” he told Reuters.

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Why would Islamic State attack Russia?

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also said on X: “Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods.

“Everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign ministry accused Moscow of using the attack to “further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russian society”.

“We consider such accusations to be a planned provocation by the Kremlin to… create conditions for increased mobilization of Russian citizens to participate in the criminal aggression against our country and discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community,” the ministry said in a statement.

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Pope Francis’s final moments reveal how quickly he deteriorated before death

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Pope Francis's final moments reveal how quickly he deteriorated before death

Pope Francis died little more than half an hour after being taken ill, Vatican sources have told Sky News.

Pope Francis woke at 6am on Monday, and was fine for at least an hour, sources said, as they revealed details of the pontiff’s final moments.

Around 7am, the Vatican’s medical unit received an emergency call from his Casa Santa Marta apartment.

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Where will Pope Francis be buried?

Pope latest – Prince William to attend funeral

An urgent transfer to the Gemelli hospital, where he was treated for pneumonia earlier this year, was among the options considered.

A request for an urgent escort from the Vatican was received by Rome police after 7am, sources there said, but, given how quickly his condition worsened, it was cancelled by Vatican officials before 7.35am.

Francis died at the age of 88, a day after making his final public appearance at St Peter’s Square, where he greeted crowds on Easter Sunday, one of the most important days of the Christian calendar.

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First images of pope’s casket

The Vatican said he died from a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.

He is currently lying in state in the Santa Marta Domus in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household.

Francis will be laid to rest Saturday, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects.

The funeral will take place outside, in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica, and will start with a procession led by a priest carrying a cross, followed by the coffin and ordained clergy.

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‘Many were in tears, I was in tears’

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will lead the service. Nine days of mourning begin afterwards.

Unlike his predecessors, Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major), as per his final burial wishes, announced on Monday.

The basilica is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, and is where Francis traditionally went to pray before and after foreign trips.

He will be the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century.

In another change from tradition, he will be buried in a simple wooden casket, forgoing the centuries-old practice of burying the late pope in three interlocking caskets made of cypress, lead, and oak.

Prince William will attend the funeral on behalf of King Charles, Kensington Palace has said.

Cardinals will gather in a conclave to choose his successor afterwards.

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Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, had suffered from a chronic lung disease and had part of a lung removed as a young man.

Health issues plagued him throughout his later life, and he was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on 14 February for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He stayed at the hospital for 38 days before being released.

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Kristi Noem: Top Trump official’s handbag – containing $3,000 in cash and security pass – stolen in burger restaurant

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Kristi Noem: Top Trump official's handbag - containing ,000 in cash and security pass - stolen in burger restaurant

A bag belonging to the US Homeland Security Secretary was stolen on Sunday night – containing thousands of dollars in cash and an ID card that gives access to secure agency buildings.

Kristi Noem was eating at a Washington DC burger restaurant with family when a man in a face covering sat near her table and stole her purse, according to two people familiar with the theft.

Officials confirmed the theft to Sky News’ US partner NBC News on Monday.

The cabinet secretary was carrying $3,000 (£2,243) in cash because “her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren”, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NBC.

“She was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities and Easter gifts.”

US Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem visited CECOT in March. Pic: Reuters
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The purse contained her ID card. Reuters file pic

Just before 8pm, a man wearing an N-95 mask walked into the restaurant and up a few stairs to where Ms Noem was eating dinner.

He sat near her table and moved his chair close to hers before sliding her purse toward him with his foot, according to surveillance footage viewed by law enforcement, the sources said.

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Within minutes, the man had Ms Noem’s purse under his jacket and walked out of the restaurant.

At least two on-duty members of the US Secret Service were in the restaurant – between Ms Noem and the front doors – according to a source who witnessed the meal.

They said the restaurant wasn’t very busy at the time.

The purse also contained credit cards, blank cheques, her passport, driver’s licence and a set of keys.

It’s unclear whether Ms Noem was specifically targeted – and investigators are looking into whether the man knew who the purse belonged to.

When asked about the incident, Ms Noem said: “I don’t think I can comment on it yet. It’s not resolved yet.”

She said the Secret Service was aware but said she hadn’t spoken to agency personnel about what happened.

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Ms Noem is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s policies of deporting undocumented immigrants and fortifying the US-Mexico border to slow illegal migration.

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Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia’s ‘brutal war’ – as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire

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Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia's 'brutal war' - as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire

Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about ending Russia’s “brutal war” on Ukraine in their latest phone call on Easter Monday, as Vladimir Putin said he was open to bilateral talks.

The prime minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday afternoon, when Sir Keir “reiterated his iron-clad support for Ukraine“.

A Downing Street spokesperson added that the prime minister “said that the UK supports Ukraine’s calls for Russia to commit to a full ceasefire and that now is the time for Putin to show he is serious about ending his brutal war”.

“They discussed the latest developments on the Coalition of the Willing, and looked forward to further progress towards a just and lasting peace,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Zelenskyy later said on social media that he had a “good and detailed conversation” with the prime minister, and added Ukrainian officials will be in London for talks on ending the war with Russia on Wednesday.

“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” he added.

The Ukrainian president added that the 30-hour Easter truce, which both Kyiv and Moscow accuse the other of violating, showed that Russia “are prolonging the war”.

It comes as Mr Putin proposed bilateral talks with Ukraine on a longer ceasefire, which would mark the first time Russia held such talks since a failed peace deal soon after the invasion in 2022.

Speaking to a state TV reporter, the Russian president said: “We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative (the Easter truce), especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days.”

When asked about Mr Zelenskyy’s calls to extend the 30-hour ceasefire into a 30-day pause on civilian targets, he added: “This is all a subject for careful study, perhaps even bilaterally. We do not rule this out.”

The Ukrainian president said on Sunday evening that the Russian army had “violated Putin’s ceasefire more than 2,000 times” during the day, and accused Russia of “failing” to “uphold its own promise of a ceasefire”.

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From Saturday: Why Putin offered an Easter truce?

It also comes after Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia and Ukraine “will make a deal this week,” after he and his secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

The US president said on his Truth Social platform that both countries would “start to do big business” with the US after ending the war.

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Last month, Ukraine accepted Mr Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, but Mr Putin refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire, saying crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out.

He then said he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, both sides have accused each other of breaking the moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea.

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