the Kremlin justifies the absence of Vladimir Putin at the tributes, ensuring that he “feels fully concerned”

“Even if you don’t see tears on his face, that doesn’t mean he isn’t suffering,” declared the Kremlin spokesperson, eight days after the attack which left at least 144 dead.

More than a week after the attack which left at least 144 dead and 551 injured in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, near Moscow, the Russian president did not attend any tribute ceremony. Asked about this absence, the Kremlin spokesperson assured, during a short television interview broadcast on Saturday March 30, that Vladimir Putin “feels personally and fully concerned by these kinds of tragedies.” “Believe me, even if you don’t see tears on his face, that doesn’t mean he’s not hurting.”justified Dmitri Peskov.

"It’s unlikely that anyone will know and understand what he’s going through, including you and me," continued the Kremlin spokesperson while, according to the Ria-Novosti agency, American, European, African and South American diplomats went on Saturday to the scene of the attack claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State, to place flowers there and observe a minute of silence.

No meeting planned with the families of the victims

After the tragedy of Friday March 22, the Russian president waited until the next day to speak publicly. The lOn Monday, Vladimir Putin admitted that the attack was carried out by “radical Islamists”but Russian authorities have accused Ukraine and its Western allies, who strongly deny it, of having “ease”.

Finally, on Thursday, the Kremlin announced that the head of state, freshly re-elected, had not immediately planned to meet the families of the victims, nor to go to the scene of the attack.