Vladimir Putin said Russia had arrested all four gunmen responsible for the shooting that killed 133 people at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, claiming that the perpetrators of one of the worst terror attacks in the country’s history planned to flee to Ukraine.

Putin, in his first public comments on the event that shocked the nation, made no mention of Islamic State’s claim to have carried out the attack.

Instead, Putin suggested without evidence that Ukraine may have been involved in Friday’s attack, saying that 'the Ukrainian side' had 'prepared a window' for the terrorists to cross the border from Russia into Ukraine before they were apprehended.

'They tried to hide and move towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,' Putin said in a televised address on Saturday.

But his comments came short of directly blaming Ukraine for the attack, saying that those responsible would be punished, 'whoever they may be, whoever may have sent them'

• Moscow terror attack: Putin says all four gunmen held as death toll reaches 133