Putin says the people who committed the terrorist attack in Crocus were fleeing towards Ukraine

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has declared 24 March a day of national mourning over the terrorist attack in Moscow's Crocus City Hall. It took 19 hours from the moment of the attack to Putin's official announcement.

"All those who shot and killed people have been found and detained, they were moving towards Ukraine, where a 'window' was prepared on the Ukrainian side to cross the border," Putin said.

During his speech, Putin called what happened at the Crocus not just "a cynically planned terrorist attack, but a prepared and organised mass murder of peaceful, defenceless people."

"The criminals went in cold blood and purposefully went to kill, shoot at point blank range our citizens, our children. Like the Nazis who once carried out massacres in the occupied territories, they planned to arrange a demonstrative punishment, a bloody action of intimidation. (...) Our common duty now: our comrades-in-arms at the front, all citizens of the country – is to be together in one line."

On the evening of 22 March, a shooting took place at the Crocus City Hall concert hall. Several armed men opened fire with automatic weapons and set the building on fire. The attack took place before the start of a concert by the band Picnic. At the time of the shooting, up to 6,200 people could have been in the building – almost all tickets to the Picnic concert were sold out. According to the latest reports, 150 people were killed.

Background. The United States reportedly warned Russia about a possible ISIS attack before the terrorist attack in Moscow Region. According to journalists, the United States had intelligence about the attack and passed the information on to the Kremlin in accordance with the Duty to Warn requirement. At the same time, Russians blame the attack on "Slavs associated with the Russian volunteer corps".