The White House said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that Ukraine was behind last week’s attack on Moscow, inside of ISIS-K, is “nonsense.”
The remarks were shared by National Security Communications adviser John Kirby, who updated reporters on Thursday.
“I want to just take a moment to respond to both the nonsense and the propaganda that we’ve been seeing coming from the Kremlin and the Russian government over the past few days about the ISIS terrorist attack on the concert hall, which sadly took the lives of more than 140 people,” Kirby said.
Kirby continued, refuting Putin and other Russian officials’ claims of having proof, saying that those “who have sought to deflect blame onto Ukraine, the United States, and everyone else who suits their political narratives, it’s abundantly clear that ISIS was solely responsible for the horrific terrorist attack in Moscow last week.”
Shortly after the shooting, which Russian officials said claimed the lives of more than 100 people, the terrorist group Islamist State claimed responsibility for the attack.
Despite this, Russian officials have claimed that Ukraine was responsible for the attack, sharing that the four gunmen were captured while fleeing toward the country.
United States intelligence agencies have supported the conclusion that ISIS-K was behind the attack, refuting the claims of Russian officials, which Kirby described as “pretty good manure salesmen.”
“ISIS bears full responsibility for the attack,” Kirby said. “It reminds me of something my uncle used to say — had a small farm and raised a few cattle in a place near Ocala, Florida — used to say that the best manure salesman often carries their samples in their mouths.”
Kirby shared that the United States had provided information to Russian authorities about the terrorist threat ahead of the attack.
“We provide this information to Russia because the United States takes very seriously our duty to warn and never want to see innocent lives lost in terrorist attacks,” Kirby said.