Live blog: Concert shooting fits into Ukraine's attacks on Russia — Putin

1818 GMT — Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged for the first time that "radical Islamists" were behind last week's attack on a concert hall outside Moscow, but suggested Ukraine was somehow involved.

Eleven people have been detained in connection with the attack, which saw camouflaged gunmen storm into Crocus City Hall, open fire on concert-goers and set the building ablaze, killing at least 137 people.

"We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries," Putin said in a televised meeting.

"This atrocity may be just a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 with the hands of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime," he said, referring to Ukraine.

"Of course, it is necessary to answer the question, why after committing the crime the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there?" Putin asked.

Monday, March 24, 2024

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1752 GMT — UK rules out connection between Ukraine, Moscow terror attack

The UK is aware of "no connection whatsoever" between Ukraine and last Friday’s terror attack in Moscow terror, British Defence Secretary John Healey has said.

Speaking at the House of Commons, Grant Shapps told lawmakers that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s effort to link the two must be “resisted” in the continuing Ukraine war, which is now in its third year.

At least 137 people were killed and over 180 others injured on Friday when gunmen opened fire just before a rock concert at Crocus City Hall in the Moscow region. The terrorist group Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.

Speaking on behalf of the main opposition Labour Party, Healey extended his condolences to the victims of the attack.

1631 GMT — EU condemns Russian missile attacks on Ukraine

The EU has condemned a series of intense Russian missile strikes on Ukraine last week.

"The EU condemns the repeated attacks against Ukraine over the past week," the union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on X.

Noting that Russia used nearly 190 missiles to target civilians and destroy energy infrastructure in these attacks, depriving ordinary Ukrainians of basic electricity and heating systems, he said these amounted to "war crimes."

1556 GMT — US dismisses Russia linking shooting to Ukraine as 'Kremlin propaganda'

The White House has dismissed Russian claims that the shooting attack that killed 137 people in a concert hall outside Moscow was linked to Ukraine.

"There was no linkage to Ukraine ... This is just more Kremlin propaganda," White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing.

1542 GMT — Russia summons Australian envoy over post condemning voting in occupied Ukraine

The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Charge d'Affaires of the Australian embassy in Moscow to complain about a social media post condemning the holding of Russian presidential elections on parts of Ukraine Moscow claims to have illegally annexed.

In a statement on the Telegram messaging service, the Australian embassy wrote: "The holding of the vote on the territory of Ukraine is a flagrant violation of international law".

Russia's foreign ministry said it had summoned the envoy, strongly protested and demanded the embassy take the message down.

1536 GMT — US targets Russian fintech operators for Ukraine sanctions evasion work

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Russian financial services and technology firms and individuals for developing or offering services in virtual assets aimed at evading US sanctions on Russia over its military campaign in Ukraine.

The Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 13 entities and two individuals in the latest round of Russian sanctions targeting Russia's core financial infrastructure to block its use of the international financial system to further its Ukraine war aims.

Five of the entities were designated for being owned or controlled by persons already sanctioned OFAC.

1350 GMT — Russian may have fired missile into Polish airspace to test NATO response: Polish general

Russia may have deliberately fired a missile into NATO member Poland's airspace in a weekend test of the country and alliance's defences, according to a Polish general said.

"Such situations may be deliberately provoked by the enemy in order to test the Polish air defence system," Stanislaw Koziej said in an interview with Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev was to be given a note of protest after the Russian missile entered Polish airspace for 39 seconds early Sunday amid a Russian attack targeting western Ukraine.

Paweł Wroński, the Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters in a brief statement outside the ministry that Andreev did not come to the meeting, and that his failure to appear has led the Warsaw government to wonder "whether he is able to properly represent the interests of the Russian Federation in Warsaw."

1049 GMT — Cynical, counterproductive to pin Moscow attack on Kiev: France

French President Emmanuel Macron has said all signs indicated that the attack on a concert hall near Moscow in which 137 people were killed was carried out by Daesh, telling Russia it would be "cynical and counterproductive" to try to blame Ukraine.

Russia challenged assertions by the United States and other countries that the Daesh group orchestrated the gun attack, accusing Washington of covering for Ukraine.

"This attack was claimed by (Daesh) and the information available to us, to our (intelligence) services as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the (Daesh) which instigated this attack," Macron said.

"I think that it would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine."

President Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned Daesh in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine.

1005 GMT — Five injured in Russian missile attack on Kiev

Five people including a teenage girl were injured during a Russian missile attack on Kiev, where falling debris also damaged at least two buildings in central districts.

Russia has escalated aerial attacks on Kiev in recent days, targeting key infrastructure in the wake of fatal Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions.

"Five people were injured in the Pechersky district. Three were treated at the scene. Two were hospitalised," Kiev's Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on social media.

One of those being treated in hospital is a 16-year-old girl, he said in an earlier post.

0544 GMT — Russian drones hit southern Ukraine: Kiev

Almost a dozen people have been injured in a Russian drone strike on southern Ukraine, officials said, while a fire broke out at a major Russian power plant after Ukrainian drones attacked the area.

Kiev said Russian drones had hit the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa, as both countries continued their barrage of recent overnight aerial attacks on energy facilities behind the front lines.

"The enemy attacked Odessa region with attack drones once again," Governor Oleg Kiper said, adding, "Energy infrastructure has been damaged and there is no electricity supply in parts of Odessa (city)."

Some 11 people were injured in the southern city of Mykolaiv after a Russian drone attack, Ukrainian army spokesperson Nataliya Gumenyuk said in an interview on national TV.

0544 GMT — Russia reports downing 11 Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region

In Russia, a fire broke out at a power plant in the southern region of Rostov, the local governor said, after a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks in the area.

Two power units at the Novocherkassk power station — one of the largest in southwest Russia — were taken offline, governor Vasily Golubev said in a post on Telegram.

"Two power units of the power plant have been temporarily taken out of operation," he said.

"There were no casualties. The causes of the fire are being investigated," Golubev added.

0018 GMT — France raises terror alert to highest level after Moscow concert hall attack

France raised its terror alert to its highest level following a terrorist attack that killed at least 137 people at a Moscow concert hall.

"Following the attack in Moscow, a Defense and National Security Council (meeting) was convened this evening at the Elysee by the President of the Republic (Emmanuel Macron)," Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said in a statement o n X.

With the Daesh terrorist group claiming responsibility for the attack "and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency," he said, referring to France's national security alert system.

The death toll from the concert hall shooting on Friday in a Moscow suburb rose to 137, said the country's federal investigative authority.

For our live updates from Sunday, March 24, click here.