MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Russia’s formal diplomatic note to Ukraine on the fight against terrorism does not contain any demands regarding the recent terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Channel One television.
The diplomat pointed out that the note does not contain any demands concerning the March 22 terrorist attack on a crowded concert in Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow, but does contain materials and references to the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, the murders of Russian journalist Darya Dugina and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, and the attempted assassination of Just Russia-For Truth party co-chairman Zakhar Prilepin, in which his associate was killed.
"Why are we not talking about Crocus City Hall at this stage? Because we need materials that must be provided by law enforcement agencies, which are charged with gathering the relevant facts," the diplomat said. "If new information emerges about the participation, potential participation, completed participation, or planned participation of the Ukrainian security services, including possibly, I emphasize again, in other terrorist acts, and high-ranking Russian representatives have already spoken about this, respectively, this information will be sent additionally as a note in the form of a new intergovernmental pre-litigation claim," the spokeswoman said.
When asked to comment on which specific international courts Russia is ready to take its case to next, the diplomat said it was not yet time to reveal "everything that is being prepared for the Kiev regime at this stage." "The Kiev regime has made its choice. They have chosen the path of extremism and terrorism. They have repeatedly made statements, saying they not only do not regret or condemn the actions of their subordinates in the Ukrainian military, in the Azov nationalist battalions (recognized as terrorists, outlawed in Russia) and so on, but that they support them in every possible way," Zakharova pointed out. "They had time to sort things out and realize the enormity of their own steps. They went the other way," she emphasized.
Note to Kiev
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that investigative actions carried out by Russian law enforcement authorities point to Ukrainian fingerprints on several terrorist attacks perpetrated inside Russia, including the attack on Crocus City Hall. In this connection, the Foreign Ministry formally conveyed to the Ukrainian government a set of demands, within the framework of the 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, calling for the immediate arrest and extradition of all persons involved in these terrorist acts. Among Moscow’s demands is that Kiev arrest Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) head Vasily Malyuk, who "cynically admitted on March 25 that Ukraine had organized the bombing of the Crimean Bridge in October 2022 and revealed details of the organization of other terrorist attacks in Russia."