Center for Countering Disinformation debunked fake news about Ukrainians' involment at Crocus

According to the center, information has emerged online that four suspects in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow have been identified by their passports and are citizens of Ukraine hired by the state for money from American taxpayers.

However, the Center emphasized that these claims do not correspond to reality.

"Anonymous accounts and bots post the same exposing text word for word. To create the hoax, fake makers used photos of real Ukrainian passports found on the internet. The data under the name of Caesar Julius-Halarirohailalirozra Ilyich can be found in materials from 2020," the Center added.

Regarding the photo of Mykola Malukha's passport, the Center stated that it appeared online in 2016 and was published by Malukha himself on Facebook: in the post under the photo, a Russian expressed joy at receiving a Ukrainian passport and wanting to renounce his Russian one.

"The other two photos are of low quality, and the names on them are unreadable. Propaganda continues to spread fakes to find a Ukrainian trace in the terrorist act, which Ukraine is not involved in," the Center concluded.

Terrorist attack near Moscow

On March 22, armed individuals stormed the Crocus City Hall shopping center near Moscow. The mall was crowded with people.

The terrorists opened fire on Russians and set fire to the exits to prevent escape.

Later, in Russia, citizens of Tajikistan were arrested and accused of the terrorist act. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that the suspects allegedly tried to escape to Ukraine through the Bryansk region.

As stated today, March 27, by Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Russia knew about the preparation for the terrorist act at least a month in advance but decided not to act.