The first arrests have been made after the attack on a concert hall in the Moscow region. However, the background to the crime on Friday evening remains unclear.
According to the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, eleven arrests have been made so far following the attack near Moscow. FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov said this, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
The Russian authorities initially did not provide any information about the background to the crime this morning. There was also no official Russian assessment of a letter of responsibility from the Islamic State terrorist militia. The terror investigation was ongoing, it said.
More than 60 dead
According to investigators, the number of deaths in the suspected terrorist attack on a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow has risen to 93. The number continues to rise, the investigative committee of the Russian state agency Tass said in Moscow on Saturday.
At least three children were also killed in the terrorist attack. The Ministry of Health of the Moscow Region announced this on Saturday morning. Accordingly, five people died of their injuries in the hospital, including the three children. The authority called on people to donate blood for the injured. Several positions have been set up for this purpose.
The background to what happened was completely unclear; the Russian security authorities were investigating terrorism. The terrorist militia Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, as the IS mouthpiece Amak reported on the Internet, citing unnamed sources. Experts assumed that this letter of confession was genuine.
The situation at Crocus City Hall is quiet in the morning. Emergency services extinguished embers after the major fire, as the fire department announced. After the fire has been completely extinguished, the rubble from the collapsed roof of the concert hall should be removed. The police, national guard and investigative committee recorded the damage and secured evidence.
Gunmen in camouflage uniforms
It was also unclear how the men in camouflage uniforms and heavily armed were able to get into the concert hall. The Russian capital Moscow is considered a safe city with a large number of security forces, surveillance cameras and metal detectors in many places. However, the secret services of the USA and other Western countries warned of an impending attack at the beginning of March. After his re-election last Sunday, President Vladimir Putin dismissed this as a Western provocation.
As the shots rang out, attendees in the massive event center ran for their lives, videos showed. Individual dead or injured people could also be seen lying on the ground. According to eyewitness accounts on social media, many visitors to Crocus City Hall took a long time to get out of the building. Investigators later found weapons and a lot of ammunition. Authorities collected empty cartridge cases by the bagful.
The building also caught fire during the attack. The Russian Civil Defense Ministry named an area of 13,000 square meters that was in flames. Firefighting helicopters were in use. The roof is said to have collapsed. Even though it was said that the fire was under control, open flames were again coming out of the building, as the Tass agency reported. Dozens of ambulances and many buses were deployed to bring people to safety.
The Crocus City Hall has several event halls that are also used for trade fairs. It is one of the most popular leisure spots for Muscovites and those living in the surrounding areas of the Russian capital. Stars have appeared there again and again. There was supposed to be a concert by the Russian rock band Piknik yesterday.
Putin wishes you a speedy recovery
According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the events “from the first minute.” According to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he constantly receives all important information about what is happening and the measures taken via the relevant services. Putin later wished the injured a speedy recovery and thanked the doctors for their efforts.
The head of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, threatened the masterminds of the attack with retaliation. “Those behind this terrible crime will receive the deserved and inevitable punishment,” she wrote on her Telegram channel. At the same time, she announced, the state would do everything it could to help those left behind.
Ukraine denies any involvement
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry rejected suspicions of Ukrainian involvement. In an initial reaction, the USA also warned not to establish any connection with Ukraine. “There is no evidence that Ukraine or Ukrainians had anything to do with the shooting,” US National Security Council communications director John Kirby said in Washington. Not much can be said about the details so far, but at this early stage we strongly advise against the assumption that there is a connection to Ukraine. The US State Department recommended that American citizens avoid large gatherings of people.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reacted angrily to this statement from Washington. It was premature for the USA to exonerate Ukraine, she said on Russian television. “If the United States or any other country has reliable facts, they should provide them to the Russian side.” If there were no such facts, neither the White House nor anyone else would have the right to give advance absolution, Zakharova said.
UN Secretary General condemns attack
The European Union is shocked and horrified, wrote EU Commission spokesman Peter Stano on the X platform (formerly Twitter). The EU condemns any attacks on civilians. “Our thoughts are with all affected Russian citizens.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the UN Security Council also condemned the attack.
The Foreign Office wrote on X about a “terrible attack on innocent people.” The background needs to be clarified quickly. “Our deepest condolences go out to the families of the victims,” it said. Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) also spoke on X of a “cowardly attack on people who just wanted to listen to music.”
As a consequence of the attack, all theaters and museums in Moscow will remain closed over the weekend, including world-famous ones such as the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin had previously said that all major events in Europe’s largest city had been canceled. The authorities also canceled mass events in the Moscow area.
In 2002, Chechen gunmen took control of 850 people in a musical theater. On the fourth day of the drama, the domestic secret service stunned the captors and the hostages with a gas. The terrorists were shot. 135 hostages died, most of them due to inadequate medical care.