Putin pledged to get to those who ordered terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall

Russia will definitely get to those who ordered the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall concert hall in the Moscow region, Vladimir Putin said during an extended meeting of the board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Photo: YouTube by CBC TV

According to the president, law enforcement agencies will have to identify not only the direct perpetrators, but also all links in the chain and the final beneficiaries of the terrorist attack. Putin emphasised that there were no reliable agents in the terrorist environment.

"Those who use these weapons [terrorist attacks] against Russia must understand that those weapons are double-edged. Orders of crimes for money are not isolated. There are no reliable agents in this environment. They do anything for money being guided only by financial considerations. Everything is easy to buy and sell, any information. So we will certainly reach the end customers," Putin said.

Those who ordered the terrorist attack in the concert hall wanted to split multinational Russia from within, the president said. The terrorists wanted to sow panic and hatred in the Russian society, incite national hatred, xenophobia and Islamophobia.

"It is unacceptable, I want to emphasise this, to use the recent tragic events to provoke national hatred, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and so on," Vladimir Putin said.

According to the president, it is necessary to analyse the situation as objectively as possible in order to raise security at such places as sports facilities, transport, shopping centres, schools, hospitals and universities to a new level.

During his speech, the Russian leader also said that it is only those migrants who respect Russian traditions who may come to the country.

"It is only those who respect our traditions, language, culture, history can come to live and work in Russia," Putin said.

Suppressing illegal migration is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the president said. According to the head of state, the criminal syndicates operating in the country are cross-border in structure. They cooperate with foreign intelligence services and emissaries of international radical groups, he added.