Russia again blames Kyiv, West

Russia yesterday sought to shift blame for the Moscow concert hall attack onto Ukraine and its Western backers, despite the Islamic State group claiming responsibility for the massacre of at least 139 people.

The Kremlin's security services have been scrambling to explain how the gunmen on Friday managed to carry out the worst attack in Russia in over two decades.

President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that the "radical Islamists" conducted the bloody assault, but suggested they were linked to Ukraine.

The head of Russia's FSB security agency Alexander Bortnikov said yesterday that while those who had "ordered" the attack had not been identified, the assailants were heading to Ukraine and would have been "greeted as heroes".