“Where the terrorists wanted to enter” –

The head of Russia’s security services (FSB) has accused Ukraine and the West of facilitating the attack near Moscow, claimed by jihadist group Islamic State, with Russia insisting on a link between Kiev and the alleged attackers. “We believe that the action was prepared both by the radical Islamists themselves and, of course, facilitated by Western secret services and that the Ukrainian secret services themselves are directly involved,” said Alexander Bortnikov, quoted by Russian media. On Monday, Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time, three days following the events and the ISIS accusations, that the alleged attackers were “radical Islamists”, pointing the finger at Ukraine.

Bortnikov in particular pointed the finger at the USA and Great Britain. Asked whether the US, UK and Ukraine were involved, he replied: “I think so.” Although, he added, “the sponsor has not yet been identified”. A hypothesis contradicted by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, who said that the attackers had initially tried to flee to his country. «They were unable to enter Belarus. They saw this and therefore changed course and headed towards the Russian-Ukrainian border,” he said.