Ukraine has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for implicating Ukraine in the terror attack at the Crocus City hall in Moscow, where 133 people lost their lives on Friday evening. The attack, claimed by Islamic State terrorists, also left over 140 individuals injured. However, Putin, in a national address on Saturday, attributed the attack to Ukraine, his country's war-devastated neighbor.

Putin announced in his address that the perpetrators of the attack had been apprehended while attempting to flee towards Ukraine. He expressed anger, stating that all assailants and their backers would face punishment. "All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, were found and detained," Putin declared. He further alleged that the suspects tried to escape towards Ukraine, where they purportedly had arrangements to cross the state border.

In response to Putin's allegations, Mykhaylo Podolyak, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed them as "absurd." Podolyak emphasized that the versions presented by Russian special services concerning Ukraine were baseless and illogical.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had claimed that the attackers attempted to escape by car towards the Russian-Ukrainian border, suggesting they had contacts on the Ukrainian side. Some Russian lawmakers and former President Dmitry Medvedev also insinuated a possible Ukrainian connection, although no evidence was provided.

Russia announced the arrest of 11 individuals in connection with the concert hall terror attack. However, the country has not addressed the Islamic State's claim of responsibility nor identified who it believes was behind the attack. On the other hand, Kyiv's intelligence services had previously characterized the attack as a "planned and deliberate provocation by the Russian special services on Putin's orders."

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