“The special services of Ukraine are directly related to this,” Bortnikov said. He said Kiev had helped prepare Islamic radicals in an undisclosed location in the Middle East.
Asked by Russian journalists whether Ukraine and its allies, the United States and Britain, were involved in the attack on the concert hall, Bortnikov said: “We think that is the case. In any case, now we are talking about the texture that we have. This is general information.”
Bortnikov, 72, who has served as head of the FSB since 2008, said Russia has not yet identified those who specifically ordered the deadliest attack inside Russia in two decades, but said retaliation will be processed.
He offered no specific evidence for the claims, which radicals in Moscow could use to justify the escalation of the war in Ukraine and to explain how Russian security services failed to prevent the attack.
Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has presented the West – and particularly the United States and Britain – as enemies whose decision to support Ukraine would essentially put them at odds with Russia. Turns out as parties in war.
