Ukraine was not involved in Friday's shooting attack near Moscow and suggestions of a Ukrainian link "have nothing in common with reality," a spokesman for Kyiv's military spy agency said on Saturday.
Russia's FSB security service said "all four terrorists" behind the attack at a concert hall near the capital had been arrested while heading to the Ukrainian border, and that they had contacts in Ukraine.
"This is of course another lie from the Russian special services, which has nothing in common with reality and does not stand up against any criticism," Andriy Yusov, of the Defense Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence, told Reuters.
He added: "Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack. Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers' army and military targets, not civilians."
His remarks echoed those of presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, who denied any Ukrainian link in comments on Friday evening and again on Saturday. Podolyak wrote on X on Saturday that "any attempts to connect Ukraine to the terrorist attack are absolutely untenable".
Earlier, Russian lawmaker and former general Andrei Kartapolov said if Ukraine is found to be behind Friday's attack, there should be a clear answer on the battlefield, the RIA news agency quoted him as saying.
