The spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday that it is "very difficult to believe" that ISIS would have the capability to carry out an attack on a concert hall in Moscow last Friday that resulted in the death of at least 143 people.

Zakharova repeated Moscow’s claims, which have yet to be substantiated with evidence, that Ukraine was behind the attack on the Crocus City Hall, the deadliest attack Russia has suffered in 20 years.

The Russian Emergency Ministry published a list of names showing that 143 people were killed in the mass shooting that took place last Friday. An earlier official tally had indicated that the death toll was 139.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre, and U.S. officials say they have intelligence showing that the group’s branch in Afghanistan, ISIS-Khorasan, carried out the massacre. Ukraine has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.

But Zakharova said the West rushed to blame ISIS as a way to divert blame from Ukraine and the Western governments supporting Kyiv.

She continued, "To dispel the collective Western doubts, they desperately needed to come up with something, so they resorted to ISIS, pulling an ace out of their sleeve, and a few hours after the terrorist attack, the Anglo-Saxon media began to publish these versions precisely."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attack was carried out by Islamic militants but indicated that it was in Ukraine’s interest and that Kyiv may have played a role.

He said that someone on the Ukrainian side prepared a "window" for the militants to escape across the border before being captured in western Russia on Friday evening.

But Belarusian Leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that the militants initially sought to cross into his country but then turned away and headed toward Ukraine once they realized the crossings into Belarus had been closed.

The head of the Russian Federal Security Service said on Tuesday that he believes Ukraine, the US, and Britain are involved in the Moscow attack.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron responded on the social media platform X, saying: "Russia’s claims about the West and Ukraine regarding the attack on Crocus City Hall are pure nonsense."

Head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate Kirilo Budanov said at a security conference in Kyiv that he believes Russian authorities were aware of preparations for a major attack since at least mid-February.

Budanov, whose statements were published by Ukrainian media, said the authorities chose not to say anything either because they downplayed the scale of the attack, or to blame Ukraine and proceed with dismissing officials.

After the shooting, a US official said Washington warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.