Terror has shaken the heart of Russia. At least 40 people died and more than a hundred were killed on Friday evening in a shootout followed by a fire in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, a terrorist attack for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility through the Telegram channel Amaq agency. “The preliminary number of terrorist attacks on the Crocus City Hall complex is currently 40 dead and more than a hundred injured,” the security forces (FSB) said, citing Russian news agencies.
The Foreign Ministry attributed the tragedy, which occurred at an auditorium in Krasnogorsk, a suburb on the northwestern edge of the Russian capital, to “a bloody terrorist attack.” “The entire international community must condemn this heinous crime!” he said. Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, on Telegram. The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyaninannounced the cancellation of “all sporting, cultural” and public events over the weekend.
According to a reporter from the RIA Novosti agency, people in camouflage uniforms stormed into the concert hall and opened fire before “throwing a grenade or an incendiary bomb, causing a fire.” “The people who were in the room fell to the floor to protect themselves from the gunfire for 15 or 20 minutes,” and many managed to “crawl out,” he said.
The emergency services cited by the Interfax agency reported a “group of two to five unidentified people wearing combat uniforms and carrying automatic weapons” who “opened fire on security officers at the entrance to the room, at concerts” and in front of them. I started shooting at the public. According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters managed to evacuate about a hundred people who were in the basement of the compound.
Operations are also underway to “rescue people who are on the roof of the building,” he explained. The TASS news agency said that about a third of the building was on fire. Videos shared on social networks show large columns of black smoke rising from the building. According to Russian authorities, security forces were on site. The attack occurred during a concert by the Russian rock group Piknik, whose members were evacuated, TASS said.
Current security force-affiliated Telegram channels Baza and Mash published videos showing at least two gunmen advancing in the lobby of the complex. In other sequences, corpses and groups of people can be seen rushing towards the exit. Other images show spectators hiding behind seats or leaving the room.
The USA condemns the attack
The White House expressed its condolences to the victims of the “horrific” shooting. “The images are simply horrifying and difficult to watch,” said the National Security Council spokesman. John Kirby. Ukraine assured that it had “nothing to do” with the attack on the former Russian president Dmiti Medvedev He stated that Russia would “destroy” Ukrainian leaders if it was proven that they were involved in the attack. “If they turn out to be terrorists of the Kiev regime (…), they will be mercilessly identified and destroyed like terrorists.” Including the leader of the state who committed such an atrocity,” explained number two Medvedev in the Russian Security Council, on Telegram.
In recent days, Russia has been the target of attacks by anti-government Russian militants and bombings from Ukraine, which has been subject to Russian military intervention since 2022. Russia has already been the target of numerous attacks by Islamist groups and shootings without political motives or by unbalanced individuals.
In 2002, a group of Chechen fighters took 912 people hostage in Moscow’s Dubrovka theater to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. The harrowing hostage crisis ended with special forces intervention and the deaths of 130 people, almost all of them asphyxiated by gas used by the military.