Russian authorities said Saturday that they had arrested the four individuals suspected of setting a suburban Moscow concert venue on fire and killing at least 133 people, one of the worst terrorist attacks to jolt Russia in President Vladimir Putin’s nearly quarter-century in power.
The Islamic State group has taken responsibility for the brutal assault in three messages issued since Friday. But Putin, in his first public remarks on the tragedy more than 19 hours after the attack, made no mention of the extremist group, or the identities of the perpetrators, broadly blaming “international terrorism.” Russian state media quickly began laying the groundwork to suggest that Ukraine and its Western backers were responsible.
The Russian leader did take a swipe at Ukraine, saying that the suspects were apprehended while traveling to the Russian border, where he alleged a crossing was being prepared for them from “the Ukrainian side.” Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack.
Russian state news broadcasts similarly ignored or cast doubt on the Islamic State group attribution, and commentators focused on trying to blame Ukraine. As of Saturday, authorities had not disclosed the identities of the alleged gunmen.
But state news media did show what it described as footage of interrogations of at least two of the suspects, including one who spoke in Tajik through an interpreter and another who said he carried out the killings for money after being recruited over the messaging app Telegram. Russia’s Interior Ministry said the four suspects were all foreign citizens.
In his video address, Putin said the four main perpetrators had been apprehended, as well as seven other individuals.
“The main thing now is to prevent those who were behind this bloody massacre from committing new crimes,” he said.
The Russian leader designated Sunday as a national day of mourning and vowed retribution against those who organized the attack.
“All perpetrators, organizers and commissioners of this crime will receive a just and inevitable punishment,” Putin said. “No matter who they are, no matter who directed them, I repeat, we will identify and punish everyone who stood behind the terrorists.”
By Saturday, the vast concert venue had been reduced to a heap of burned rubble, dust and smoke after a mammoth fire engulfed the premises in the hours after the attack and pulled down the roof.
As emergency services workers continued to comb the scene, survivors gave harrowing accounts of their escapes.
“The panic was terrifying,” said Olya Muravyova, 38, who had been standing in line with her husband to buy a beer before the performance by Piknik, a Russian rock band formed in the late 1970s that was about to play at the venue when the attack occurred.
“We were in such a good mood,” she said Saturday, visiting the scene of the attack in the hopes of picking up her car. Suddenly, five minutes before the performance was set to start, she heard shots ring out.
“I thought maybe the band was making a dramatic entrance,” she said. But her husband told her to run and then to hide.
The names of some of the victims have also begun to emerge from officials and in local news reports. Most of those identified so far appeared to have been in their 40s, and many had traveled from other parts of the country to attend the concert.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.