Death toll rises to 133 in Moscow concert attack

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The death toll of Friday’s deadly attack on a Moscow concert venue has risen to 133 people. In remarks Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “barbaric terrorist act” and suggested— without evidence — that Ukraine had helped the attackers escape.

Eleven people, including the four gunmen who opened fire at the concertgoers, have been detained so far in connection with the attack, Putin said.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack late Friday, and a U.S. official told the Washington Post that they had “no reason to doubt” the claim. The group has long called for attacks on Moscow due to its history of violent wars in Afghanistan and the Muslim-majority region of Chechnya.

Putin did not mention the Islamic State in his remarks Saturday, but instead claimed the gunmen had tried to escape to Ukraine, where “a window for them to cross the state border was prepared by the Ukrainian side.” The FSB security service has said the gunmen had ties to Ukraine, an assertion which has gained steam in Russian media, although no proof to support it has been presented.

Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement in the attack, calling Putin’s allegations “absolutely untenable and absurd.” However, several officials have warned that the Kremlin may use the aftermath of the attack to whip up support for the war in Ukraine and a possible new military mobilization, The Washington Post reported.

There is “no indication” of a possible Ukrainian role in the incident at this time, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday.

Public events planned over the weekend have been canceled across much of Russia, while shopping malls in Moscow and St. Petersburg have been shut down, and security ramped up at airports and train stations, state media reported.

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The deadly attack comes less than a week after Putin claimed victory in a landslide election widely seen as a sham, further tightening his grip on power.

Just three days ago, he dismissed warnings from several Western countries about the possibility of a terrorist attack in Russia as “outright blackmail” to “intimidate and destabilize our society.”

In early March the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s domestic security agency, said it had foiled a planned attack on a synagogue in Moscow by an Islamic State cell group. Russian special forces also launched counter-terrorist operations earlier this month in the Caucasus region that killed six people who Russian authorities said were planning terrorist attacks.

Former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev said that if Kyiv was behind the attack, Russia would destroy the Ukrainian regime “mercilessly.” “Death for death,” he wrote on Telegram.