Mukhammadsoobir Faizov has been arrested in relation to the attack (Picture: Reuters)
Russian authorities have begun rounding up suspects after gunmen stormed a Moscow concert hall killing more than 100 people – including children.
The FSB security service has claimed the terrorists had been arrested while heading to the Ukrainian border, and that they had contacts in Ukraine.
That is despite the Islamic State group having claimed responsibility in a statement, a declaration confirmed by US intelligence officials who said they tipped off the Kremlin in advance.
Authorities said 11 people have been arrested, including four suspected gunmen in connection with the shooting rampage.
One suspect, Mukhammadsoobir Faizov, 19, is in hospital undergoing surgery -two of his accomplices who ran off into the woods after the car they fled in overturned are still missing.
Russian MP Alexander Khinshtein said: ‘The Renault in which the suspects were driving was discovered at night in the area of the village Khatsun, Bryansk region.
‘A PM pistol, a magazine for an AKM assault rifle and passports of citizens of Tajikistan were found in the Renault car.’
The car suspects were travelling in has been seized (Picture: East2West News)
Much of the roof of the concert hall collapsed due to a fire (Picture: AFP)
The four were stopped in the Bryansk region of western Russia ‘not far from the border with Ukraine’, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.
They planned to cross the border and ‘had contacts’ there, state news agency Tass said, citing Russia’s FSB.
The head of the FSB reportedly briefed President Vladimir Putin on the arrests on Saturday.
‘Now we know in which country these bloody bastards planned to hide from pursuit – Ukraine,’ Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
A senior Russian lawmaker, Andrei Kartapolov, said that if Ukraine was involved, then Russia must deliver a ‘worthy, clear and concrete’ reply on the battlefield.
Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev called for a nuclear strike as retaliation if Ukraine was involved: ‘Let’s give the civilian population of Ukraine 48 hours to leave the cities and finally end this war with the victorious defeat of the enemy. Using all forces and means.’
A makeshift memorial has been set up near the site of the massacre (Picture: AFP)
The death toll has now passed 100 people (Picture: AP)
Russian political scientist Sergei Karnaukhov alleged Ukrainian involvement: ‘Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to post insider information as the work is still in progress. The terrorist evacuation group was Ukrainian – this is all I can say.’
In a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan said it had attacked a large gathering of ‘Christians’ in Krasnogorsk.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.
The Tajikistan foreign ministry has since slammed reports over its citizens being involved, saying the claims were ‘unverified and unreliable’.
The US had led Western warnings at the possibility of an ‘extremist’ attack on Moscow, but suggested that the danger period for this was weeks ago.
Ukrainian military intelligence blamed the operation on Russian secret services and said they were likely to use the consequences to increase support for the military conflict.
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