| After the rigged Russian elections, Vladimir Putin is now presenting a fake narrative about the terrible terrorist attack that struck Moscow last Friday, pointing the finger at Ukraine and ignoring the obvious Islamic State signature. The West did the right thing by expressing its shock and compassion to the people of Russia following the attack on the Crocus concert hall in Moscow. Similar Islamist attacks have taken place in the West, the worst being the attack on the Bataclan Theatre in Paris on 13 November 2015, in which the terrorists killed 90 people. A branch of Islamic State – the Afghan-based ISIS-Khorasan – claimed responsibility for Moscow’s attack. After a 20-hour silence, Putin made a TV appearance vowing revenge but didn’t mention the Islamic State. Instead, he alleged Ukrainian involvement, something emphatically denied by officials in Kyiv. “They were trying to hide and were moving toward Ukraine,” Putin said, referring to the four men who carried out the attack and who the Kremlin said had been captured in western Russia. “Based on preliminary information, a window for crossing the border was prepared for them by the Ukrainian side.” The place where the perpetrators were arrested is close to both Ukraine and Belarus, but Putin discarded evidence that they were heading to Belarus. There can be no doubt that the terrorists represent Islamic State, especially after the jihadist group posted a video filmed by the perpetrators themselves, shouting “Allahu Akbar”. The Russian side published a video of what appears to be an interrogation at the place of the arrest in which an alleged terrorist says he was offered 500,000 roubles (roughly €5,000) to carry out the attack. | 
