Amidst all the noise, the accusations, and the threats in the wake of Friday’s horrific terror attack in Moscow, there is one topic on which the usually verbose Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, remains mum. When asked by a journalist about the “visible signs of violence” on the suspected perpetrators when they appeared in court on Sunday, his response was simply: “I am leaving this question without an answer.”

I have no comment on his no-comment. His eight-word non-response, and the pictures of the suspects, speak for themselves.

But there has been no dearth of verbal exchanges among the involved, and the uninvolved, parties on every other aspect of this disastrous event. It took Vladimir Putin a full day to address the subject at all. And when he did, it was to take advantage of the opportunity to point the finger of blame — where else? — at Ukraine. More than 135 Russian citizens slaughtered; another 100 or so in hospitals, severely wounded; and his first thought is how to pin it on the country he has already subjected to all-out war for the past two years.

How many synonyms are there for “scum of the earth”? When it comes to describing Vladimir Putin . . . not nearly enough.

And when he finally acknowledged that the terrorists — whom he now had in custody — were indeed radical Islamist members of ISIS-K, he did not ease up on his accusations against Ukraine. Instead, he tried to convince the world — without a shred of evidence — that that country had been complicit in the horrific crime by providing an opening at their border for the terrorists to take shelter. Yeah . . . right. Are we even talking about the same border? You know, the one that, because of the ongoing war with Russia, is probably the most heavily fortified in all of Europe?

But wait . . . there’s more. It seems there’s always more.

In a meeting on Monday with government officials, Putin said that the attack had been carried out by extremists “whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.” Without specifically referring to ISIS-K, he continued:

“We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists. . . . But we also see that the United States is trying to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that there is supposedly no trace of Kyiv in the Moscow terrorist attack.” [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, March 25, 2024.]

Needless to say, both Kyiv and Washington have treated Putin’s assertions like the bullshit propaganda they are. Ukraine’s President Zelensky, in vehemently denying his country’s involvement, said:

“Again, he accuses Ukraine. A sick and cynical creature. Everyone is a terrorist to him except for himself although he has been fueled by terror for two decades already.” [Id.]

Not surprisingly, Kremlin-friendly Russian journalists have jumped happily into the fray, echoing Putin’s assertions as though they were holy writ. And, once again, the Russian people are left to pick through the verbal rubbish in search of an inkling of the truth.

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But if there is any humor to be found in any of this, it comes from a most unlikely source: Aleksandr Lukashenko, self-declared President of Belarus and willing toady of Vladimir Putin. While Putin and his mouthpiece Peskov continued to accuse Ukraine of keeping a door open for the terrorists, Lukashenko stated on Tuesday that the attackers had actually tried to flee to his country, but were unable to do so because of the additional security measures at his borders.

Oops! Doesn’t he know it’s not nice to contradict the boss?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/27/24