Russia announced on April 9 that it had launched an investigation into Burisma — a Ukrainian gas company linked to U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden — for financing terrorism, ostensibly in connection with the Moscow mass shooting in March.
The investigation centers around an accusation that senior officials from the U.S. and other NATO countries were financing terrorism in Russia and abroad using funds funneled through Burisma.
A branch of the Islamic State known as ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 145 people. Despite this, Russian officials have been attempting to link the attack to Ukraine, despite ISIS' statements and the lack of evidence pointing to Ukrainian involvement.
When asked about the Investigative Committee's accusation toward Burisma and the implication that U.S. and NATO officials sponsor terrorism, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the charges were "nonsense."
"Russia knows that it was ISIS that carried out the terrorist attack in Moscow."
Hunter Biden previously served on the board of Burisma from 2014-2019, which overlapped with Joe Biden's second term as vice president.
Republicans have long sought to portray Hunter Biden as having profited unlawfully from his connections to Burisma, with the added allegation that Joe Biden used his official position to protect him from investigation.
The allegations that either President Biden or his son were involved in unlawful actions associated with Burisma have been widely debunked.
The conspiracies went viral in the U.S. in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, fueled in part by a wider campaign among political opponents of Biden who sought to use his son's activities in Ukraine against him.
The allegations were the center of the political scandal that resulted in former U.S. President Donald Trump's first impeachment charge, in which he allegedly threatened President Volodymyr Zelensky in July 2019 that he would cut off aid to Ukraine unless Zelensky initiated an investigation into Biden and his son.
Nate Ostiller
(Updated: )
