Russia President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 4, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the masterminds behind the deadly terrorist attack in suburban Moscow aimed to undermine Russia's unity.

The investigation provided that the primary goal of the attack was "precisely to inflict damage to our unity," Putin said. "There are no other goals visible, and there are none."

Putin also said that Russia could not be the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists, adding the country demonstrates "a unique example of unity among different faiths, religions and ethnicities."

A shooting on March 22 in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the northwest of Moscow was followed by a massive fire, resulting in at least 144 people killed and another 551 injured, official statistics showed.

Russia had previously suggested that the terrorist attack was linked to Ukraine, a claim that Ukraine had repeatedly denied.

Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained three more people for their alleged involvement in the deadly concert hall terror attack in suburban Moscow, the agency said Thursday.

The FSB said in a statement that the suspects were arrested in the Russian cities of Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Omsk. They include a Russian citizen and two foreign citizens from Central Asia.

It said that two of the detainees transferred money for the purchase of firearms and vehicles used in the terrorist attack, while the third recruited accomplices for the attack and financed its perpetrators.

A shooting occurred on March 22 in the Crocus City Hall concert venue northwest of Moscow, followed by a massive fire. At least 144 people were killed and another 551 injured after the attack, official statistics showed.