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       Tajikistan's state security service has detained nine people over suspected contact with the perpetrators of last week’s attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 144 people, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Friday.

       The reported arrests came exactly a week after the massacre in the Crocus City Hall, in which gunmen shot people waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire.

       The four suspected attackers were arrested and identified as Tajik nationals.

       An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on Russian soil in years. The Kremlin, however, has insisted that Ukraine and the West had a role, something Kyiv has vehemently denied.

       RIA Novosti said Friday, citing an unnamed source in Tajikistan’s security services, that those detained in the Central Asian country were residents of the Vakhdat district that lies east of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

       The report said those detained are suspected of having connections with the Islamic State group.

       In Russia, a total of nine suspects have faced court so far and were remanded in pre-trial detention.

       Shifting blame

       Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin have persistently claimed, without presenting evidence, that Ukraine and the West had a role in the attack.

       The Investigative Committee said Thursday that it has “confirmed data that the perpetrators of the terrorist attack received significant amounts of money and cryptocurrency from Ukraine, which were used in preparing the crime.”

       Mediazona reported that a 9th suspect has been charged, with investigators claiming that they were instructed to flee to Kyiv following the attack.

       Ukraine denies involvement and its officials claim that Moscow is pushing the allegation as a pretext to intensify its fighting in Ukraine.

       The death toll from the raid continues to rise, with the number of deaths increasing to 144 on Friday when a severely injured victim died in a hospital, according to Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko.

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       Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Europe was in a "pre-war era" in an interview with European media grouping LENA on Friday.

       Tusk also warned that Ukraine's loss risked the wider safety of Europe.

       Poland has been one of its neighbouring Ukraine's staunchest allies since Russia invaded over two years ago.

       The Prime Minister recently met with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Warsaw, where they discussed solutions on dealing with farmers' demands over restrictions on Ukrainian imports.

       Ukraine and Russia Trade Strikes

       Russian strikes triggered an air-raid warning in Cherkasy Oblast, Kamianske in Dnipro Oblast and the city of Dnipro on the night of 28-29 March according to Ukrainian local media.

       Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration, said the strikes hit several critical infrastructure facilities, as power to the area was cut off.

       Ukrainian strikes hit the city of Belgorod on Friday, where one person was killed after a drone hit a residential building.

       Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital, Kyiv, and hitting energy infrastructure across the country.

       The attacks are an apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war.

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       Cloiseau's Easter Egg collection is inspired by the Olympic Games, set to be hosted in Paris from Friday, July 26th until Sunday, August 11 this year.

       The work took thirty-five hours to make and features a huge central egg surrounded by a racetrack holding smaller eggs.

       The sculpture weighs 7.6 kg and the chocolates are available in stores and online across Paris.

       The €2500 price tag corresponds to the rising cost of Easter eggs across Europe.

       With the price of cocoa breaking a new record, the cost of Easter chocolates has risen an average of five per cent more this year.

       The cost of chocolate production, including energy, packaging and raw materials all rose in the last year, and of course, this increase will be passed on to the consumer.

       The price of raw materials has also soared up 130 per cent in one year, mainly due to poor harvests. The rise is set to continue, impacting all sectors of the industry.