Crocus City Hall Terrorists Were Recruited Through Ukrainian Embassy in Tajikistan, Expert Believes

© AFP 2023 Karen MinasyanImpromptu memorial in front of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan
Impromptu memorial in front of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 24.03.2024
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Earlier, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, strongly condemned the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall complex, stressing that "terrorists have no nationality, no homeland and no religion."
Recruitment of killers for the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow was conducted through the Ukrainian Embassy in Tajikistan, military expert, ex-special service officer, retired Colonel Bakhtiyer Rakhmonov, told Sputnik.
The expert said that a few weeks before the terrorist attack near Moscow, the Ukrainian diplomatic mission reportedly published information on its social media about inviting foreigners to join the so-called "International Legion."

"Recruitment of the killers for the terrorist attack took place through the Ukrainian Embassy in Dushanbe, its ambassador is the former head of foreign intelligence, and the consulate itself, several weeks before the terrorist attack, was looking for executors, having openly published on the page of the Ukrainian Embassy in Tajikistan an order to hire assassins," he purported, adding that the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in the published message provided all the contacts - a potential terrorist only had to write or call.

According to Rakhmonov, who provided Sputnik with an undated screenshot of the announcement from the embassy's social media page, the last time such calls to foreigners appeared on the Ukrainian diplomatic mission's website was on March 9 and March 18.
Commemorative action in front of Crocus City Hall, March 23, 2024 - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 24.03.2024
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He said that the message that appeared on March 18 "was there for no more than two days."

"The work on the recruitment of foreigners was led by Ukraine's Ambassador Extraordinary Valeriy Yevdokimov - former head of the Foreign Intelligence Service under [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky," the expert said.

Ukraine's Ambassador to Tajikistan, Valeriy Yevdokimov, was the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine from September 2019 to June 2020.
Rakhmonov stressed that natives of Tajikistan are regularly targeted for recruitment by Ukrainian intelligence services.
"Now that the order has been fulfilled, the application to find the killers has been deleted, but the Internet remembers everything - a screenshot of the announcement has been preserved by local media. The terrorist organization Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence tried to kill two birds with one stone - to stir up ethnic discord and to kill more civilians in a sophisticated way," Rakhmonov said.
A shooting occurred on Friday in the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside Moscow to the northwest, followed by a massive fire.
Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly involved, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. FSB added that after the terrorist attack, the criminals intended to cross the border between Russia and Ukraine through relevant contacts in Ukraine.
As a result of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow, 154 people were injured, including five children, the Russian Emergencies Ministry for the Moscow Region said on Sunday. 133 people are pronounced dead, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
Putin said that Russia faced not only a carefully and cynically planned terrorist attack, but a prepared and organized mass murder of peaceful people. The president stressed that all the perpetrators, organizers and customers of this crime will be justly and inevitably punished.
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