Putin finally releases address on mass shooting in Moscow, tries to blame Ukraine
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A video of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s address to Russia, following a mass shooting at a Moscow area mall, has been published by Russian media outlets on March 23.
In his address, the Russian dictator called the events in Crocus City Hall a "bloody and barbaric terrorist attack.” He then claimed that those involved in the shooting allegedly intended to travel to Ukraine, where, according to him, a “window" to exit the country had been prepared for them.
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"All four perpetrators of the attack - all those who shot and killed people - have been found and detained,” Russian dictator said.
“They were trying to hide and were moving towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them to cross the border. A total of 11 people were detained."
Putin further alleged that the attack was “ordered” by a third party, and that Russian security forces "working to expose the entire terrorist support base."
"It is already obvious that we are faced not just with a carefully planned terrorist attack, but with a prepared mass murder of peaceful and defenseless people," Putin said.
Read also: FSB alleges Ukraine connection in Moscow mass shooting following arrest of 11 suspects
He also compared the murderers in Moscow to "Nazis who carried out demonstrative massacres in the occupied territories."
Putin added that "all the perpetrators, organizers and instigators of this crime will be punished fairly and inevitably, whoever they are."
"We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this crime, this attack on Russia," he said.
At the end of the address, Putin added threats: "Terrorists, murderers, non-humans, who have no nationality and cannot have any, will face only one fate - revenge and oblivion. They have no future."
He also declared March 24 a day of national mourning.
The address is Putin's first public statement regarding the mass shooting, though he reportedly spoke to both Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev regarding the attack.
March 22 mass shooting in Moscow
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On evening of March 22, several people in camouflage opened fire with assault rifles at people who had come to see the band Picnic play at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. According to eyewitnesses, the shooters also threw a Molotov cocktail, and a fire broke out.
All tickets to the concert were sold out, and according to media reports, up to 7,200 people could have been in the building. At time of publication, the death toll stands at at least 115 people.
On March 8, the U.S. Embassy warned its citizens in Russia about the threat of a terrorist attack in Moscow. American diplomats stated that the attack could be carried out in crowded places, such as a concert.
Putin is said to have reportedly denied the U.S. warning, instead blaming the "West" for attempting to "intimidate" Russia.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
