The President of Belarus revealed the escape of the suspect in the Moscow terrorist attack

(Dan Tri) – The President of Belarus said that the gunmen who attacked the theater in Moscow initially tried to flee to Belarus, not Ukraine as Russian officials claimed.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (Photo: Reuters).

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on March 26 revealed to reporters that Belarusian and Russian security agencies coordinated their actions when the suspect’s car attacked the Crocus City Hall theater running southwest from Moscow to

Mr. Lukashenko said Belarus quickly set up checkpoints at the border.

`That’s why they couldn’t enter Belarus. They saw (the checkpoints) so they turned away and moved to the Ukraine-Russia border area,` BelTA news agency quoted the Belarusian president as saying.

`(Russian President Vladimir) Putin and I did not sleep for a whole day… The two sides interacted continuously,` Mr. Lukashenko added.

On the evening of March 22, an armed group broke into the hall of the Crocus City theater on the outskirts of Moscow, opened fire and set fire to the theater.

The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility and released videos and photos of the attack to prove it.

However, Moscow still directs suspicion towards Ukraine.

President Putin said that the terrorist attack was carried out by Muslim extremists, but was related to a broader campaign of intimidation by Ukraine.

According to the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov, Moscow believes that `the attack was prepared by the same Islamic extremists and Western intelligence agencies with support from Ukraine.`

Russian officials said that the US, UK and Ukraine may be involved in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City theater.

Ukraine and its Western allies quickly denied accusations of involvement in terrorism in Russia.

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said that the West is trying to confirm that IS was behind the attack on the Crocus City theater without waiting for the conclusion of the investigation.

`A simple question that any person, any Russian citizen can ask: why are these guys trying to escape from Moscow towards the Ukrainian border,` Ambassador Antonov said.

President Putin said that through many different channels, the US is trying to convince that there is no trace that Ukraine was involved in the attack.

According to Mr. Putin, `we also need to answer the question of why terrorists tried to move to Ukraine after committing a crime and who was waiting for them there.`

Earlier this month, the US and several European countries warned Russia about the risk of an `imminent` terrorist attack in Moscow or major Russian cities.