٠٠:٠٤:٠٨Mandatory Credits: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia
Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok confirmed the arrest of a 'high-risk' suspect with links to both ISIS and Ukraine, during a briefing in Bratislava on Tuesday, following the attack near Moscow on Friday.
"He had no direct connection to the terrorist group that did this (Russian attack), but within the information that we have, it is a member of a broader base, on which these people work together," he explained.
"'He is a high-risk person in Slovakia, who comes from Tajikistan and according to the information we have from foreign intelligence services, has been identified as a high-risk and dangerous person, who has violent behaviour," he outlined, adding that the suspect had reached Slovakia via the 'Slovak-Ukrainian border, through one of the border crossings'.
"He should never have even made it to Slovakia because he was in the INTERPOL system identified as a security element with links to terrorism." Estok continued.
"The story is quite a long one, his journey, which tells of those two years, which he spent between Slovakia and Germany… today he is placed in the detention camp Sečovce and his extradition proceedings are ongoing as he is a permanent resident of Ukraine," he added.
Estok outlined that the suspect was 'directly a member of the group, which operates in Tajikistan and which directly declares itself an Islamic State [group]'.
"This is such a terrorist. And indeed, we have that information from two foreign secret services that speak of it, that this is a dangerous individual who is directly suspected of the crime of terrorism. He's not really some ordinary guy, I would put it this way," he said.
The minister also added that discussions were ongoing about raising the terror threat level from two to its highest of three.
Last Friday, a mass shooting and fire took place at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, with over 130 people killed at time of publication.
On Monday, with a number of suspects in custody, President Vladimir Putin claimed that 'radical Islamists' were responsible but also hit out at the US for 'trying through various channels to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to their intelligence, there is allegedly no trace of Kiev in the Moscow terrorist attack'.
"We want to know who ordered it," he added.
Previously, Putin stated that the suspects had 'tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border'. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the suspects had planned to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border and 'had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side'.
The White House claimed it was a ' terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS' and that there was 'absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack'. Ukraine has also strongly denied any involvement.
'No direct connection' but part of 'broader base' - Slovakia arrests ISIS-linked Ukrainian resident following Moscow attack
Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok confirmed the arrest of a 'high-risk' suspect with links to both ISIS and Ukraine, during a briefing in Bratislava on Tuesday, following the attack near Moscow on Friday.
"He had no direct connection to the terrorist group that did this (Russian attack), but within the information that we have, it is a member of a broader base, on which these people work together," he explained.
"'He is a high-risk person in Slovakia, who comes from Tajikistan and according to the information we have from foreign intelligence services, has been identified as a high-risk and dangerous person, who has violent behaviour," he outlined, adding that the suspect had reached Slovakia via the 'Slovak-Ukrainian border, through one of the border crossings'.
"He should never have even made it to Slovakia because he was in the INTERPOL system identified as a security element with links to terrorism." Estok continued.
"The story is quite a long one, his journey, which tells of those two years, which he spent between Slovakia and Germany… today he is placed in the detention camp Sečovce and his extradition proceedings are ongoing as he is a permanent resident of Ukraine," he added.
Estok outlined that the suspect was 'directly a member of the group, which operates in Tajikistan and which directly declares itself an Islamic State [group]'.
"This is such a terrorist. And indeed, we have that information from two foreign secret services that speak of it, that this is a dangerous individual who is directly suspected of the crime of terrorism. He's not really some ordinary guy, I would put it this way," he said.
The minister also added that discussions were ongoing about raising the terror threat level from two to its highest of three.
Last Friday, a mass shooting and fire took place at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, with over 130 people killed at time of publication.
On Monday, with a number of suspects in custody, President Vladimir Putin claimed that 'radical Islamists' were responsible but also hit out at the US for 'trying through various channels to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to their intelligence, there is allegedly no trace of Kiev in the Moscow terrorist attack'.
"We want to know who ordered it," he added.
Previously, Putin stated that the suspects had 'tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border'. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the suspects had planned to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border and 'had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side'.
The White House claimed it was a ' terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS' and that there was 'absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack'. Ukraine has also strongly denied any involvement.
Mandatory Credits: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia
Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok confirmed the arrest of a 'high-risk' suspect with links to both ISIS and Ukraine, during a briefing in Bratislava on Tuesday, following the attack near Moscow on Friday.
"He had no direct connection to the terrorist group that did this (Russian attack), but within the information that we have, it is a member of a broader base, on which these people work together," he explained.
"'He is a high-risk person in Slovakia, who comes from Tajikistan and according to the information we have from foreign intelligence services, has been identified as a high-risk and dangerous person, who has violent behaviour," he outlined, adding that the suspect had reached Slovakia via the 'Slovak-Ukrainian border, through one of the border crossings'.
"He should never have even made it to Slovakia because he was in the INTERPOL system identified as a security element with links to terrorism." Estok continued.
"The story is quite a long one, his journey, which tells of those two years, which he spent between Slovakia and Germany… today he is placed in the detention camp Sečovce and his extradition proceedings are ongoing as he is a permanent resident of Ukraine," he added.
Estok outlined that the suspect was 'directly a member of the group, which operates in Tajikistan and which directly declares itself an Islamic State [group]'.
"This is such a terrorist. And indeed, we have that information from two foreign secret services that speak of it, that this is a dangerous individual who is directly suspected of the crime of terrorism. He's not really some ordinary guy, I would put it this way," he said.
The minister also added that discussions were ongoing about raising the terror threat level from two to its highest of three.
Last Friday, a mass shooting and fire took place at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, with over 130 people killed at time of publication.
On Monday, with a number of suspects in custody, President Vladimir Putin claimed that 'radical Islamists' were responsible but also hit out at the US for 'trying through various channels to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to their intelligence, there is allegedly no trace of Kiev in the Moscow terrorist attack'.
"We want to know who ordered it," he added.
Previously, Putin stated that the suspects had 'tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border'. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the suspects had planned to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border and 'had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side'.
The White House claimed it was a ' terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS' and that there was 'absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack'. Ukraine has also strongly denied any involvement.