Russia has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for last week’s deadly Moscow concert hall attack, despite the Islamic State (IS) group claiming responsibility and Ukraine’s denials.

Through Russian officials’ statements, media reports, and social media, BBC Verify examines how the campaign to blame Kyiv unfolded.

Accusations were made almost immediately after initial reports of the attack on the Crocus City Hall emerged on social media at 1715 GMT on Friday.

Several pro-Kremlin bloggers posting to the messaging app Telegram blamed Ukraine within just over an hour.

Pro-Russia pundit Sergey Markov, for example, said at 1825 GMT the attackers looked like “Islamist radicals”, but went on to add – without evidence – that the attack was “likely organised from Kyiv”.

Some 40 minutes later (1903 GMT), Moskovsky Komsomolets, a national tabloid, quoted military expert Roman Shkurlatov as saying the attack may have been organised with the support of Ukraine’s Security Service and military intelligence.

And at 1927 GMT, Russia’s ex-President Dmitry Medvedev vowed revenge if Ukraine was involved.

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