The director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, said on Tuesday that the US, UK and Ukraine were behind the Moscow concert hall attack that killed at least 139 people on Friday - despite repeated claims of responsibility by Islamic State.

The director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, said on Tuesday that the US, UK and Ukraine were behind the Moscow concert hall attack that killed at least 139 people on Friday - despite repeated claims of responsibility by Islamic State.

Russian officials persisted in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last week’s deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Without offering any evidence, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, followed similar allegations by President Vladimir Putin, linked the attack to Ukraine even as he acknowledged that the suspects arrested were “radical Islamists.”

The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and US intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.