![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaZelensky hits back after Russia links Ukraine to concert attackPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Footage shows people taking cover inside the venue as multiple shots are heardBy Sarah RainsfordEastern Europe correspondent, KyivAs news of the Moscow concert hall attack broke on Friday, Ukrainians knew what was coming: Kyiv would be blamed. The next thing they expected was more drones and more missiles. The accusations began almost immediately. They were just hints at first, until President Vladimir Putin openly claimed that the men who attacked Moscow had tried to flee to Ukraine, helped by contacts there. Then shortly before dawn on Sunday came the sound of explosions in Kyiv. When Mr Putin made his comments on Saturday in an address to the Russian nation, Islamic State group (IS) extremists had already announced they had carried out the killings. The US had confirmed that it passed on intelligence of a threat earlier this month.Now IS have released a hideously graphic video of their massacre, filmed on bodycams and including shouts of “God is Greatest” from the attackers.Bullets, a crush and panic: Moscow concert that became a massacreWhat we know about the attack on a Moscow concert hallIn his evening statement on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visibly angry that his country was being blamed. He described the Russian president and others in Moscow as “scum” for linking the attack there to Kyiv.He suggested a “miserable” Russian leader was more concerned about pinning the attack on Kyiv than reassuring his own citizens. Mr Zelensky then turned the tables on Moscow, saying it had sent “hundreds of thousands of [its own] terrorists” to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.He said those troops were now brutalising Ukraine, instead of protecting Russia against the real threat of extremism. “They burn our cities… they torture and rape.”Ukrainian police have opened thousands of criminal cases against Russian soldiers since February 2022, including one killing we investigated where two unarmed civilians were shot in the back. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Parts of Crocus City Hall were completely destroyed after the attackers set it alightEarlier on Saturday, the military intelligence directorate in Kyiv called the specific Russian claim that the gunmen were caught trying to flee across the Ukrainian border “absurd”. It is an active front line teeming with Russian soldiers and security services. The idea anyone would head there after staging a major attack on Moscow, Andriy Yusov argued, would be either “suicidal” or “stupid”.According to Russian officials, the suspects were captured in the Bryansk region on their way west to Ukraine. If that is genuinely where their car was stopped – and we do not know that – they could have been heading for Belarus. It is a far easier route out of Russia than crossing a minefield to get to Ukraine.Videos now circulating on social media show the detention of the suspected attackers and part of their interrogation. One shows a Russian agent trying to force a man to eat a piece of his own ear which has been severed. He spits it out. In another video his head is bandaged and face covered in blood. Any confessions that emerge after such torture could not be treated as reliable. The video clips were presumably released to showcase a tough response, but that follows an attack which the same security services failed to stop or see coming.So in his address, Mr Zelensky suggested Russians ask questions of their own intelligence agencies, rather than blaming Ukraine.That would include asking whether information from the US was ignored.But Putin’s Russia has been purged of political opposition and independent media, leaving no-one to really hold the authorities to account. In his address, Ukraine’s president also alluded to a dark theory raised earlier by his military intelligence agency – that the Russian authorities themselves were linked to the Moscow attack. The supposed motive was to bolster Mr Putin’s hold on power, rally support for his war and further mobilisation. The comments hark back to long-standing suspicions in Russia over the bombing of apartment blocks in 1999 that was the trigger for Vladimir Putin – who was prime minister at the time – to launch a war on the Chechen Republic.But Russia and Ukraine are engaged in an information war as well as fighting on the battlefield. The IS video and claim it carried out the attack would cut across Kyiv’s allegations just like it did the accusations from Moscow. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Sunday’s missile attacks in Ukraine will have been prepared long beforeSunday morning’s missile launches targeting Ukraine feel like Russia’s war as usual, rather than any escalation in response to the Crocus City Hall attack – yet. Before dawn on Sunday there were also reports of Ukrainian strikes on Crimea – the peninsula Russia annexed illegally from Ukraine in 2014. It takes time to prepare a large-scale missile strike, and this is the second by Russia since early on Friday.The major city of Kharkiv is still largely without power after the attack that day targeted energy infrastructure all over the country.Ukraine is certainly braced for worse after all the rhetoric from Moscow. But the Crocus City Hall attack suggests Russia is facing a real and significant danger within its borders – not the fake threat it concocted from Ukraine to justify Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion. That is a worry for the Russian president – a man who hates to look weak. Which is why Russia is so keen to deflect blame towards Kyiv even when the evidence points in a very different direction. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Footage shows gunmen in the lobby of Crocus Concert HallRelated TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaMoscowMore on this storyBullets, a crush and panic: Moscow concert that became a massacrePublished1 day agoWhat we know about the attack on a Moscow concert hallPublished15 minutes agoMoscow concert hall attack videos examinedPublished1 day agoWitness films escape from Moscow attackPublished1 day agoTop StoriesTriple lock for pensions stays if we win election, says HuntPublished1 hour agoZelensky hits back after Russia links Ukraine to concert attackPublished1 hour agoHow the man in the iron lung lived life to the fullPublished14 hours agoFeaturesDid Russia ignore US ‘extremist’ attacks warning?BBC Verify examines how the Moscow attack unfolded. VideoBBC Verify examines how the Moscow attack unfoldedThe Brazilian teen who scored winner against EnglandAttributionSportYour pictures on the theme of ‘reflections’‘Having a certificate of loss proves my baby existed’Kate cancer diagnosis rewrites story of past weeksSimon Harris – the man on the brink of Irish history England kits ‘should connect people’From the desert to the icy waters of WalesElsewhere on the BBCWhy do people behave the way they do on social media?Marianna Spring investigates extraordinary cases of online hate to find out…AttributioniPlayerCritically acclaimed and utterly compelling…Masterful, claustrophobic drama starring Sofie Gråbøl as a troubled prison guardAttributioniPlayerFrom triumph to tragedy…After more than 30 years of service, America’s space shuttle took to the skies for the last timeAttributioniPlayerCan new evidence solve aviation’s greatest mystery?Ten years after the Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared, new technology may explain whyAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Zelensky hits back after Russia links Ukraine to concert attack2Woman arrested as missing young siblings found3Triple lock for pensions to stay if Tories win election4The man in the iron lung: How Paul Alexander lived life to the full5Ukraine says it hit Russian landing ships in Crimea6Pilgrimage helped Traitors star Amanda say ‘goodbye mum’7First woman completes one of world’s toughest races8Give Kate and family ‘time and space to heal’9Five dead in separate car crashes10How jealous K-pop super fans try to dictate their idols’ private lives](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/7C42/production/_133001813_gettyimages-2100327303.jpg)
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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaZelensky hits back after Russia links Ukraine to concert attackPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Footage shows people taking cover inside the venue as multiple shots are heardBy Sarah RainsfordEastern Europe correspondent, KyivAs news of the Moscow concert hall attack broke on Friday, Ukrainians knew what was coming: Kyiv would be blamed. The next thing they expected was more drones and more missiles. The accusations began almost immediately. They were just hints at first, until President Vladimir Putin openly claimed that the men who attacked Moscow had tried to flee to Ukraine, helped by contacts there. Then shortly before dawn on Sunday came the sound of explosions in Kyiv. When Mr Putin made his comments on Saturday in an address to the Russian nation, Islamic State group (IS) extremists had already announced they had carried out the killings. The US had confirmed that it passed on intelligence of a threat earlier this month.Now IS have released a hideously graphic video of their massacre, filmed on bodycams and including shouts of “God is Greatest” from the attackers.Bullets, a crush and panic: Moscow concert that became a massacreWhat we know about the attack on a Moscow concert hallIn his evening statement on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visibly angry that his country was being blamed. He described the Russian president and others in Moscow as “scum” for linking the attack there to Kyiv.He suggested a “miserable” Russian leader was more concerned about pinning the attack on Kyiv than reassuring his own citizens. Mr Zelensky then turned the tables on Moscow, saying it had sent “hundreds of thousands of [its own] terrorists” to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.He said those troops were now brutalising Ukraine, instead of protecting Russia against the real threat of extremism. “They burn our cities… they torture and rape.”Ukrainian police have opened thousands of criminal cases against Russian soldiers since February 2022, including one killing we investigated where two unarmed civilians were shot in the back. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Parts of Crocus City Hall were completely destroyed after the attackers set it alightEarlier on Saturday, the military intelligence directorate in Kyiv called the specific Russian claim that the gunmen were caught trying to flee across the Ukrainian border “absurd”. It is an active front line teeming with Russian soldiers and security services. The idea anyone would head there after staging a major attack on Moscow, Andriy Yusov argued, would be either “suicidal” or “stupid”.According to Russian officials, the suspects were captured in the Bryansk region on their way west to Ukraine. If that is genuinely where their car was stopped – and we do not know that – they could have been heading for Belarus. It is a far easier route out of Russia than crossing a minefield to get to Ukraine.Videos now circulating on social media show the detention of the suspected attackers and part of their interrogation. One shows a Russian agent trying to force a man to eat a piece of his own ear which has been severed. He spits it out. In another video his head is bandaged and face covered in blood. Any confessions that emerge after such torture could not be treated as reliable. The video clips were presumably released to showcase a tough response, but that follows an attack which the same security services failed to stop or see coming.So in his address, Mr Zelensky suggested Russians ask questions of their own intelligence agencies, rather than blaming Ukraine.That would include asking whether information from the US was ignored.But Putin’s Russia has been purged of political opposition and independent media, leaving no-one to really hold the authorities to account. In his address, Ukraine’s president also alluded to a dark theory raised earlier by his military intelligence agency – that the Russian authorities themselves were linked to the Moscow attack. The supposed motive was to bolster Mr Putin’s hold on power, rally support for his war and further mobilisation. The comments hark back to long-standing suspicions in Russia over the bombing of apartment blocks in 1999 that was the trigger for Vladimir Putin – who was prime minister at the time – to launch a war on the Chechen Republic.But Russia and Ukraine are engaged in an information war as well as fighting on the battlefield. The IS video and claim it carried out the attack would cut across Kyiv’s allegations just like it did the accusations from Moscow. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Sunday’s missile attacks in Ukraine will have been prepared long beforeSunday morning’s missile launches targeting Ukraine feel like Russia’s war as usual, rather than any escalation in response to the Crocus City Hall attack – yet. Before dawn on Sunday there were also reports of Ukrainian strikes on Crimea – the peninsula Russia annexed illegally from Ukraine in 2014. It takes time to prepare a large-scale missile strike, and this is the second by Russia since early on Friday.The major city of Kharkiv is still largely without power after the attack that day targeted energy infrastructure all over the country.Ukraine is certainly braced for worse after all the rhetoric from Moscow. But the Crocus City Hall attack suggests Russia is facing a real and significant danger within its borders – not the fake threat it concocted from Ukraine to justify Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion. That is a worry for the Russian president – a man who hates to look weak. Which is why Russia is so keen to deflect blame towards Kyiv even when the evidence points in a very different direction. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Footage shows gunmen in the lobby of Crocus Concert HallRelated TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaMoscowMore on this storyBullets, a crush and panic: Moscow concert that became a massacrePublished1 day agoWhat we know about the attack on a Moscow concert hallPublished15 minutes agoMoscow concert hall attack videos examinedPublished1 day agoWitness films escape from Moscow attackPublished1 day agoTop StoriesTriple lock for pensions stays if we win election, says HuntPublished1 hour agoZelensky hits back after Russia links Ukraine to concert attackPublished1 hour agoHow the man in the iron lung lived life to the fullPublished14 hours agoFeaturesDid Russia ignore US ‘extremist’ attacks warning?BBC Verify examines how the Moscow attack unfolded. VideoBBC Verify examines how the Moscow attack unfoldedThe Brazilian teen who scored winner against EnglandAttributionSportYour pictures on the theme of ‘reflections’‘Having a certificate of loss proves my baby existed’Kate cancer diagnosis rewrites story of past weeksSimon Harris – the man on the brink of Irish history England kits ‘should connect people’From the desert to the icy waters of WalesElsewhere on the BBCWhy do people behave the way they do on social media?Marianna Spring investigates extraordinary cases of online hate to find out…AttributioniPlayerCritically acclaimed and utterly compelling…Masterful, claustrophobic drama starring Sofie Gråbøl as a troubled prison guardAttributioniPlayerFrom triumph to tragedy…After more than 30 years of service, America’s space shuttle took to the skies for the last timeAttributioniPlayerCan new evidence solve aviation’s greatest mystery?Ten years after the Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared, new technology may explain whyAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Zelensky hits back after Russia links Ukraine to concert attack2Woman arrested as missing young siblings found3Triple lock for pensions to stay if Tories win election4The man in the iron lung: How Paul Alexander lived life to the full5Ukraine says it hit Russian landing ships in Crimea6Pilgrimage helped Traitors star Amanda say ‘goodbye mum’7First woman completes one of world’s toughest races8Give Kate and family ‘time and space to heal’9Five dead in separate car crashes10How jealous K-pop super fans try to dictate their idols’ private lives
[ad_1] Ukraine’s leader says Russians should ask questions of their own security services instead.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaUkraine Russia war: US warns Avdiivka could fallPublished3 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, “I will die here”: Evacuation “angels” help front-line town’s last residents fleeBy Jaroslav LukivBBC NewsThe US has warned that Russia could seize Ukraine’s key eastern town of Avdiivka – the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in recent months. “Avdiivka is at risk of falling into Russian control,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, citing Ukraine’s ammunition shortages. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to do everything to “save as many Ukrainian lives as possible”.Russian troops have made gains in Avdiivka, threatening to encircle it.The town – which has been almost completely destroyed – is seen as a gateway to nearby Donetsk, the regional Ukrainian capital seized by Russian-backed fighters in 2014 and later illegitimately annexed by Moscow.Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.Ukraine battles frostbite and shell shortage in ruined town Nothing but rubble: Ukraine’s shattered ghost town AvdiivkaAt Thursday’s briefing in Washington, Mr Kirby said Avdiivka could fall largely “because the Ukrainian forces on the ground are running out of artillery ammunition”.”Russia is sending wave after wave of conscript forces to attack Ukrainian positions,” he said. “And because Congress has yet to pass the supplemental bill, we have not been able to provide Ukraine with the artillery shells that they desperately need to disrupt these Russian assaults.”Russian forces are now reaching Ukrainian trenches in Avdiivka, and they’re beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defences.”Earlier this week, the US Senate approved a $95bn (£75bn) foreign aid package – including $60bn for Ukraine – after months of political wrangling, but it faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives.Ukraine is critically dependent on weapons supplies from the US and other Western allies to be able to continue fighting Russia – a much bigger military force with an abundance of artillery ammunition.Nato Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg warned on Thursday that the US failure to approve continued military assistance to Ukraine was already having an impact on the battlefield.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Smoke rises over an industrial site in Avdiivka on ThursdayIn his video address late on Thursday, President Zelensky said: “We are doing everything we can to ensure that our warriors have enough managerial and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian lives as possible.”On Friday, Mr Zelensky is visiting Berlin and Paris where is expected to sign security pacts with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.A similar agreement on security co-operation was signed between Ukraine and the UK in January.Late on Thursday, Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavsky admitted that “fierce battles” were taking place “within” Avdiivka.”We value every piece of Ukrainian land, but the highest value and priority for us is the preservation of the life of a Ukrainian soldier,” he said.Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy acknowledged that Ukrainian troops in Avdiivka were being forced to “sometimes move to more advantageous positions… in some places leaving positions”.Some Ukrainian soldiers have privately admitted the town could fall at any moment.”We’re upset,” Ukrainian officer Oleksii, from Ukraine’s 110th Mechanised Brigade in the Avdiivka area, told the BBC earlier this week, standing beside a huge mobile artillery piece as Russian guns boomed in the distance.”Currently we have two shells, but we have no [explosive] charges for them… so we can’t fire them. As of now, we have run out of shells,” said Oleksii. He suggested that the shortages were widespread and having a dramatic impact on the fighting in Avdiivka.”We feel a very strong responsibility for our guys fighting right now in the town, armed only with assault rifles.”Ukraine’s newly appointed commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited the frontline in the Avdiivka area this week, acknowledging that the situation there was “difficult”.He said the Russian military did not “count losses”, using its troops as cannon fodder.Kyiv says an elite Ukrainian brigade has now been sent to Avdiivka and reserve artillery has been deployed.In unverified reports, Russian military bloggers said on Thursday that a key Ukrainian defence position in southern Avdiivka – known as Zenit – was now under Moscow’s control.Related TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaUkraineMore on this storyUkraine battles frostbite and shell shortage in ruined townPublished15 hours agoNothing but rubble: Ukraine’s shattered ghost town AvdiivkaPublished30 JanuaryFull cemeteries and empty homes: Ukrainians struggle to endurePublished1 day agoThe Ukrainians ‘disappearing’ in Russia’s prisonsPublished6 days agoTop StoriesLive. 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