Abror Azimov, the man arrested in Russia on April 17 over St Petersburg subway attack, has denied he was behind the bombing that killed 14 people, Russian media say.
The suspect, who is reported to be from Kyrgyzstan, said he simply “followed” instructions, and “did not realize” what he was doing.
It came shortly after Abror Azimov’s lawyer told Russian media he had “fully confessed” to being behind the explosions.
A total of nine people have been detained over the April 3 attack.
Suicide bomber Akbarzhon Jalilov detonated a bomb between two subway stations.
Police had found Abror Azimov by examining Akbarzhon Jalilov’s phone contacts, Russian newspaper Kommersant said, citing sources.
Abror Azimov bought two new mobile phones and Sim cards on April 17, but gave away his location to security forces when he activated one of the cards, Kommersant added.
According to Russian media, Abror Azimov was born in Kyrgzstan in 1990, and moved to Russia in 2008. He reportedly became a Russian citizen in 2013.
The other eight people detained in connection with the attack – six in St Petersburg and two in Moscow – are also from Central Asia.
A statement said: “Both President Trump and President Putin agreed that terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the attack as a “barbaric act” and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Europe’s thoughts were with the Russian people.
First images from the scene showed a train at Tekhnologichesky Institut station with a hole blown in its side and wounded passengers on the platform.
Initial reports suggested there had been two explosions, one each at Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations.
However, the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee later confirmed there had been only one explosion, between the two stations, at about 14:30 local time.
Senior investigator Svetlana Petrenko told Russian media the train driver’s decision to continue to the next station almost certainly helped save lives, as it allowed people to be rescued quickly.
Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said 10 people had died – seven at the scene, one in an ambulance and two in hospital. The death toll was later raised to 11.
Andrei Przhezdomsky, the head of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, said the blast was caused by “an unidentified explosive device”.
The discovery of an explosive device at another station, Ploshchad Vosstaniya, also suggested a co-ordinated attack.
Interfax said the focus was now on a 23-year-old man from Central Asia known to have links to radical Islam.
The news agency said the man died in a suicide blast and was identified through his remains.
At least 11 people have been killed and 50 injured in an explosion between two subway stations in St Petersburg, Russia.
According to the head of Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee, the blast hit a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations.
The committee said an explosive device was later found and made safe at another station nearby.
An anti-terror investigation has been opened, but other possible causes are being investigated.
The first images posted on social media showed a train at a platform in Tekhnologichesky Institut station with a hole blown in its side, along with a number of casualties.
Initial reports suggested there had been two explosions, one each at Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations.
However, the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee later confirmed there had been only one explosion, between the two stations, at about 14:30 local time.
Image source Getty Images
Senior investigator Svetlana Petrenko told media the train driver’s decision to continue to the next station almost certainly helped save lives, as it allowed people to be rescued quickly.
Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said 10 people had died – seven at the scene, one in an ambulance and two in hospital. The death toll was later raised to 11.
Andrei Przhezdomsky, the head of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, said the blastwas caused by “an unidentified explosive device” but that the exact cause had yet to be determined.
President Vladimir Putin said all causes, especially terrorism, were being investigated. He was in St Petersburg at the time of the blast, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The discovery of an explosive device at another station, Ploshchad Vosstaniya, indicates the attack was deliberate, and reports in Russia say the explosion came from a briefcase left on the train.
St Petersburg’s subway system is the 19th busiest in the world, with more than two million passengers every day, but it has not suffered attacks before.
Several transport hubs in Russia have, however, been attacked. In 2010, 38 people died in a double suicide bombing on the Moscow subway.
In 2011, a bomb exploded on a high-speed train travelling between Moscow and St Petersburg, killing 27 and injuring another 130.
Both attacks were claimed by Islamist groups.
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