White House calls Russia’s connection between the concert killing and “Ukrainian nationalists” “nonsense”

The US has rejected the claim made by Russian investigators on Thursday that they had evidence linking the gunman who murdered over 140 people at a concert last week to “Ukrainian nationalists.” “Confirmed data” indicated, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, that the attackers had gotten substantial sums of money and cryptocurrencies from Ukraine.

A few minutes later, John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesperson, called the Russian assertion “nonsense” and said that the Islamic State was the only one at fault. Earlier in March, the US issued a public warning, citing information indicating that “extremists” were preparing a potential strike on Moscow. According to Kirby, it also sent Russian security agencies a formal warning.