Arrived from Istanbul
Lukashenko: Moscow attackers first wanted to flee to Belarus
March 26, 2024, 4:12 p.m
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After the attack on the concert hall near Moscow, several suspects are in custody. Before their arrest, they allegedly tried to flee to Belarus, says the country’s President Lukashenko. The trail of the suspected assassins also leads to Turkey.
According to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the attackers in the concert hall near Moscow initially tried to escape to Belarus. But they turned back because of the border checkpoints, explained Lukashenko. “That’s why there was no way for them to enter Belarus. They saw that. That’s why they turned around and went to the section on the Ukrainian-Russian border.” The Belarusian ruler thereby contradicted Russian statements that the attackers initially tried to flee to Ukraine.
According to Turkish security circles, two of the suspected attackers were in Turkey before their stay in the Russian capital. It is said that they traveled together from Istanbul to Moscow on March 2nd. They were able to move freely because there was no arrest warrant.
The two only stayed in the country for a short time, so it is not assumed that they became radicalized in Turkey. One of the suspected attackers entered Turkey on February 20th, the other suspect on January 5th, it is said. They both stayed in hotels in Istanbul at different times and returned to Moscow on the same flight on March 2nd.
The two men, like two other suspects, are now in custody in Russia. Photos taken on Sunday showed injuries on their bodies that indicate torture by Russian security forces. More than 130 people were killed in the terrorist attack in a concert hall near Moscow on Friday. The terrorist militia IS claimed responsibility for the attack in several embassies.
Türkiye as a refuge for IS-K
According to Turkish media reports, Russian security authorities have been in intensive discussions with their colleagues in Turkey since the attack, after the IS offshoot IS-K or IS-Khorasan claimed responsibility for the attack on the night of the attack.
Apparently the Turkish security authorities have known for a long time that the Central Asian IS-K has a retreat area in Turkey. This is why there have been repeated arrests of suspected jihadists in recent months. According to the Interior Ministry in Ankara, a total of 2,919 people have been arrested in Turkey since June 1, 2023 on suspicion of belonging to or close to IS.
Russia continues to blame Ukraine
It is possible that the information from Turkey led to Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing on Monday evening that the attack was actually carried out by jihadists. At the same time, as he did at the weekend, he made it clear that he sees a Ukrainian trail. Russia wants to know “who the client is.” Putin assumes that Islamists carried out the order for the mass murder, but that the masterminds are located elsewhere. He sees a motive in Ukraine, not IS.
The secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, also continues to claim that Ukraine was responsible for the attack. When asked by journalists whether the terrorist militia Islamic State or Ukraine was behind the attack, Patrushev replied: “Of course Ukraine,” according to the state agency Tass. The 72-year-old, who has repeatedly appeared as an ardent supporter of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, did not explain how he came to this assessment.
A little later, Patrushev backtracked a little and told a Russian television reporter about alleged Ukrainian involvement: “There are a lot of indications of that.” However, he now also admitted that the investigation is still ongoing and the result remains to be seen.