After the concert attack, Vladimir Putin ignored a claim of responsibility by the Islamic State, tried to implicate Ukraine and mischaracterised a US warning.
When Vladimir Putin finally spoke about the worst terrorist attack to hit Russia in 20 years, he swept over the glaring failure of his security state to prevent the assault, which left at least 137 dead,despite a clear warning from the United States on March 7 that a strike on a concert hall could be imminent.
He also made no reference to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack at the Crocus City concert hall on Friday (Saturday AEDT) and which Putin denounced repeatedly as an enemy throughout Russia’s long military intervention in Syria. In 2017, Putin declared victory over Islamic State, also known as IS.
