During the investigation, aided by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, it was found that ISIS-K members in the Afghan-Pakistani area coordinated the preparation, funding, attack, and escape of the terrorists through the internet, stated Bortnikov, during a gathering of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of CIS members in Bishkek on Friday.
Ukraine's military intelligence, is clearly behind the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow, he stressed.
"The investigation is ongoing, but it is already safe to say that the military intelligence of Ukraine is directly involved in this attack," Bortnikov highlighted.
The official added the security services in Kiev are actively recruiting young people for terrorist activities by promoting Ukrainian nationalist movements on social media platforms.
Bortnikov stated that the perpetrators of the attack on Crocus City Hall coordinated their actions via the internet, with assistance from members of the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) situated in the Afghan-Pakistani region. The official mentioned that two of the four Crocus terrorists entered Russia from Turkey just before the assault.
"We are recording the ongoing transfer of mercenaries and fighters of international terrorist organizations from the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan to Ukraine in big groups with the assistance of NATO countries. Some of them are used for further terrorist expansion into the CIS," Bortnikov emphasized.