Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was difficult to believe that the Islamic State (IS) had the capability to carry out an attack on a concert hall in Moscow.
She said on Wednesday that Ukraine is behind the attack on Crocus City Hall on last Friday which killed at least 143 concert goers and injured other 145. It was the deadliest attack in Russia in 20 years.
The Islamic State (IS), a militant group, claimed the responsibility for the attack. US officials say they have intelligence that the Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK), the Afghan branch of IS, carried out the attack. Ukraine also has repeatedly said that it has no involvement in the attack.
Russia defied these narrative. It's intelligence FSB said, UK, US and Ukraine are behind the attack. Zakharova said Western countries are shifting the blame to IS to avoid blaming Ukraine and Western governments that support Kiev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Islamist militants carried out the attack, but it was carried out in Ukraine's interests.
Putin said some on the Ukrainian side had tried to facilitate the gunmen's escape across the border. But before the gunmen could escape, they were arrested on Friday night from the Ukrainian border in the western part of Russia.
On Tuesday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said the gunmen initially wanted to flee to his country. But when they realized the Belarusian border was closed, they tried to divert to Ukraine.
