Putin: Russia Will Find All Perpetrators, Their Links, Beneficiaries of Crocus Attack

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will find all the perpetrators, beneficiaries and links connected to the Crocus terrorist attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

"It is important for us to identify not only the direct perpetrators, but also all the links, chains of the criminal beneficiaries of this atrocity. We will certainly get to them," Putin said at an expanded meeting of the board of the Russian Interior Ministry.

Putin says Russia will identify not only the perpetrators of the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack but also all links and beneficiaries pic.twitter.com/JKCRwQxlPI

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) April 2, 2024

On March 22, several armed men broke into Crocus City Hall and started shooting at people. They also started a fire in one of the auditoriums, which was full of people ahead of a concert. The attack left 695 casualties, including 144 dead, according to the latest data from the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The four main suspects in the case — all citizens of Tajikistan — tried to flee the scene in a car but were detained and charged with terrorism. Russian authorities believe their plan was to flee to Ukraine, where the masterminds of the attack had arranged a safe haven for them. An investigation is underway.

The Russian president noted that the cause of extremism and criminal activity is illegal migration.

"At recent meetings of the FSB [Federal Security Service] and the Prosecutor General's Office, I paid special attention to the need to effectively combat any extremist forms. You know that the breeding ground for such extremist, and just outright criminal activity, is in many cases in illegal migration," Putin said.

At the same time, Putin added, the recent tragic events in Crocus should not provoke an increase in xenophobia and Islamophobia in Russia.

"At the same time, it is unacceptable, I want to emphasize this, to use recent tragic events to provoke national hatred, xenophobia, Islamophobia and so on," he said.

Vladimir Putin highlighted that it is necessary to ensure the interests and security of the state and society, as well as to preserve interethnic peace.

"First of all, it is necessary to ensure the interests and security of the state and society, to preserve interethnic and interreligious harmony, our cultural and linguistic identity — all that is the strength of Russia," Putin said at the meeting of the board of the Russian Interior Ministry.

People who respect Russia's traditions, history, and language should come to the country, the president said, adding that this should be the main principle of the migration policy.