A US government-funded news outlet has come to the defense of one of the alleged perpetrators of last week\u2019s concert hall massacre near Moscow. The man, who is accused of taking part in the killing of 140 people, was described in a Radio Free Europe article as \u201cvery compassionate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muhammadsobir Fayzov was caught by Russian security forces near the Ukrainian border on Friday and formally arrested at a Moscow court on Sunday. Along with three other Tajik nationals, Fayzov is accused of carrying out a mass shooting at the Crocus City Hall, a concert venue northwest of Moscow, on Friday. As of Wednesday, the attack has claimed at least 143 lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Fayzov was allegedly responsible for the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in two decades, he has been portrayed<\/a> by Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty\u2019s Taijik branch as a kind and caring young man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was the best kid in the family. He was very compassionate,\u201d Fayzov\u2019s mother told RFE\/RL. \u201cHe loved his cousins. He loved his friends\u2019 weddings. He danced with the boys at parties. He was a funny boy, but no one complained at school. He actively participated in school activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was afraid of hurting someone, and someone probably set him up,\u201d his mother claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on a glance at Fayzov\u2019s social media accounts, RFE\/RL determined that the accused murderer \u201cseems to be a happy young man and a good worker.\u201d The news outlet also spoke to Fayzov\u2019s employer, who described him as a skilled worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RFE\/RL has run similar stories on Fayzov\u2019s accomplices, interviewing relatives who described<\/a> alleged gunman Faridun Shamsiddin as \u201cvery timid,\u201d and Saidakrami Rachabalizod \u2013 who pleaded guilty to his role in the attack \u2013 as someone<\/a> who \u201ccould not kill a chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A terrorist group calling itself Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the massacre. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that while the attack \u201cwas carried out by radical Islamists,\u201d further investigation is needed to determine \u201cwho ordered it.\u201d Putin and Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Aleksandr Bortnikov have both suggested that Ukrainian agents or officials may have been involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US and EU have insisted that ISIS-K was solely to blame, denying that Ukraine had anything to do with the act of terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally founded as a CIA cut-out after World War 2, RFE\/RL \u2013 which is funded by the US Congress \u2013 spearheaded Washington\u2019s Cold War-era anti-communism propaganda efforts in the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc. RFE\/RL has been considered a \u201cforeign agent\u201d by the Russian authorities since 2020. In 2022, it was blocked in the country for spreading \u201cfake news\u201d about the conflict in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n