The deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall was a clear attempt at intimidating Russia and serves the interests of the Ukrainian government, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. 

More than 130 people were killed at the concert venue northwest of Moscow on Friday evening, when several armed men began shooting into the crowd and set the hall on fire. Speaking with law enforcement and regional officials on Monday evening, Putin argued the atrocity fit the pattern of actions by Kiev.

“This crime can only be a link in a chain of events by those who have waged war on our country since 2014, the Nazis of the Kiev regime, who never hesitated to use any means, any sort of inhuman tactic, to achieve their objectives,” Putin said.

The so-called Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the concert venue massacre. The US and the EU swiftly insisted that Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack and that ISIS-K, a shadowy group allegedly operating in Afghanistan, was the sole culprit.

Russian security services have apprehended a dozen suspects, including the four alleged perpetrators, intercepted as they drove towards the border with Ukraine. They were identified as Tajik nationals. Speaking on Monday evening, Putin described them as “radical Islamists.”

Though Russia knows who pulled the trigger, the president said, Moscow still needs to find who gave the order. He made it clear that Kiev was his primary suspect, however.

With Ukraine’s military losing all along the frontline, Kiev has attempted to breach the Russian border, shelled civilians in Belgorod and launched missiles at Crimea, Putin noted at the meeting. All of these actions “make up a logical sequence to a terrorist attack,” seeking both to intimidate Russia and fortify domestic morale, so that Ukrainians would continue “obeying." 

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