Russian President Vladimir Putin said the gunmen who carried out the concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people in Moscow last week were “radical Islamists”.

Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Mr Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists “whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries”.

Mr Putin, who said over the weekend that the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, did not mention the affiliate of the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for the attack.

He again refrained from mentioning IS in his remarks on Monday.

He also stopped short of saying who ordered the attack, but said it was necessary to find out “why the terrorists after committing their crime tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there”.