The Ukrainian side may have been preparing to help the four gunmen cross the Russian border, Aleksandr Bortnikov says
FILE PHOTO: Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov. © Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi
The four gunmen responsible for Friday’s terrorist attack on the Crocus City music hall in Moscow were planning to escape to Ukraine before they were apprehended by Russian law enforcement, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Aleksandr Bortnikov has said.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday, the FSB chief said that it is currently believed that the four gunmen were being expected in Ukraine and that the Ukrainian side may have been preparing to open a “window” to allow them to cross the border.
Bortnikov admitted, however, that this version of events is still being examined and that it is too early to say if this information is fully accurate. Nevertheless, he stated that authorities are currently trying to establish all the people involved in the attack, both inside and outside of Russia.
Asked if those who ordered the attack had expected the gunmen to be killed during the attack and avoid being captured alive by Russian security services, Bortnikov stated that the fact that they were trying to escape suggests that there was a plan for them to survive the ordeal.
”I’ll reveal a little secret. On the other side they were to be welcomed as heroes,” Bortnikov said.
In other statements to the media on Tuesday, the FSB boss also said that, according to his service’s intel, Ukraine had been involved in training fighters in the Middle East.
