In the bloodiest attack to occur inside Russia in 20 years, Russia prosecuted four individuals and reduced flags to half-mast for a day of mourning. The attack occurred on Friday night at a concert outside of Moscow.
Sunday was designated as a national day of mourning by President Vladimir Putin, who also promised to punish those responsible for the attack, which left 182 people injured and 137 people dead, including three children.
More than a hundred patients were still in the hospital, some of them had serious illnesses. In a video recorded on Sunday night, Putin could be seen lighting a candle at the church at his home outside of Moscow in remembrance of those who have passed away.
Ahead of the Soviet-era rock group Picnic’s performance of their hit song “Afraid of Nothing” on Sunday, four armed men broke into the 6,200-seat concert hall south of Moscow, and those inside erected flowers. The civilians collapsed, screaming, and the men opened fire with short bursts from their automatic rifles.
Although Putin has not publicly linked the Islamist militant group to the assailants, who he stated were attempting to flee to Ukraine, Islamic State has taken responsibility for the incident. According to him, there were some on “the Ukrainian side” who were ready to smuggle the shooters over the border.
Ukraine has refuted having any part in the assault.
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According to the official Telegram channel of Moscow courts, four individuals were accused on Sunday by the Basmanny district court in Moscow with crimes of terrorism in relation to the incident. They are identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov.
It stated that the men will be remanded in pre-trial prison until May 22. The individuals were recognized by Russian media as all natives of the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan who were living in Russia. It stated that three of the four had entered guilty pleas to all charges.
Courtroom photos released by Russian media emerged after savage and unverified videos of the suspects’ interrogations went viral. These images showed one suspect arriving in a wheelchair and seemingly missing an eye, another with a bandage over his right ear, a fourth with a black eye and a torn plastic bag around his neck, and a fourth with a swollen face who appeared confused and had difficulty keeping his eyes open.
The attack on Friday was the bloodiest to occur on Russian soil since the Beslan school siege in 2004, during which Islamist extremists kidnapped over a thousand people. At the time, about 300 individuals perished, with children making up the majority.
Deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev declared that Russia would go after the perpetrators of the horrific massacre, no matter who they were or where they were from.
He had previously discussed the necessity of meeting “death with death,” and some legislators have started debating the possibility of bringing back the death sentence.
Billboards with the words “We mourn” and an image of a lone candle along with the assault date were seen all across Moscow.
Nations from all over the world have expressed shock and sympathy for the Russian people in response to the tragedy.
GUNMEN
11 people, including the four alleged attackers, were being held, according to Putin. The gunmen fled the performance hall and traveled to the Bryansk area, which is located 340 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of Moscow.
“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” Putin stated.
The shooters were apprehended close to the border and had links in Ukraine, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
In February 2022, Putin issued an order for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, citing the need for a “special military operation” to save Russia and Russian speakers residing in the country.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, has charged that Putin is attempting to shift the blame for the music hall attack by making reference to Ukraine.
In a Telegram message from the group’s Amaq agency, Islamic State, the Islamist organization that once aspired to rule over large portions of Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State posted what it claimed to be attack video on its Telegram channels on Saturday night.
One of the suspects claimed in video footage that was released by Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels and Russian media that he was paid to carry out the attack.
“I shot people,” the suspect stated in a weak, heavily accented Russian, with his hands bound and his hair held by an interrogator wearing a black boot beneath his chin.
When questioned, he replied, “For money.” The man claimed to have received a guarantee of 500,000 roubles, or slightly more than $5,000. One was seen responding to inquiries via a Tajik interpreter.
Unconfirmed video purportedly showed one of the suspects getting shocked with electricity while being held captive. The video was uploaded to Russian Telegram channels. Reuters was unable to confirm its legitimacy.
The Islamic State
According to the White House, the United States administration informed Russia about a planned attack in Moscow early this month and on March 7 sent out a public warning to Americans residing in Russia. It claimed that the incident was entirely the fault of the Islamic State.
According to Adrienne Watson, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, “there was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever.”
Russian officials have taken offense at the United States’ public remarks regarding the attack, which were made just after the attack became public, and they demand that Russian investigators be given the freedom to come to their own conclusions.
Editing by William Mallard, Frances Kerry, Ros Russell, and Marguerita Choy; reporting by Reuters
