The heart of Russia rocked with gunfire and trailed at least 133 people dead and 145 wounded. International news agencies have confirmed that gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire and detonated explosives in the Crocus City Hall music venue in the city of Krasnogorsk near Moscow.
The death toll could rise as more than 133 people were in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA on Saturday said quoting a government official.
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President Putin — who was informed of the attack “within the first minutes”, according to the Kremlin — wished a speedy recovery to the wounded victims, Russia’s deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Terror group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel, saying the gunmen had managed to escape. The claim can’t be verified but the USA said it might be ISIL and it had warned Russia about a possible terror attack earlier.
Photos showed Crocus City Hall engulfed in fire as video circulated on social media shows that four gunmen opening fire with automatic guns and denotating explosives. At least two blasts were reported at the concert hall.
Alexei, a music producer, who was in the hall during the attack described the terrifying event to the AFP. “I realized right away that it was automatic gunfire and understood that most likely it’s the worst: a terrorist attack,” he said.
As people ran towards the emergency exits, “there was a terrible crush” with concertgoers climbing on one another’s heads to get out, he added. Another witness, speaking to the Reuters news agency, also described the terror and panic inside the venue.
“A stampede began. Everyone ran to the escalator,” they said, declining to share their name. “Everyone was screaming; everyone was running.” The attack, which left the concert hall in flames and its roof in a state of collapse, was one of the worst in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege in which more than 330 people, half of them children, were killed.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Friday’s raid was a “huge tragedy.” President Vladimir Putin was being given continuous updates about the situation, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
ISIL Becoming a Major Threat To Russia
Recent intelligence reporting indicated the ISIS-K terrorist group, a branch of the Islamic State that has operated in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, was active inside Russia, The Washington Post reported on Saturday quoting two U.S. intelligence officials.
Russia had earlier reported several terror incidents involving ISIL this month, with authorities saying they killed six alleged members of the group in a shootout in Ingushetia in the restive Caucasus region, and the FSB said on March 7 it foiled an attack by ISIS-K on a Moscow synagogue and on March 20, it said the commander of an ISIS combat group had been detained.
If ISIL is truly behind the attack, this is the latest in a number of Islamist-linked attacks in or against Russia in recent years.
A Russian plane was blown up over Egypt’s Sinai desert in 2015 with 224 people on board, most of them Russian citizens. ISIS had claimed the attack. In 2017, a bomb attack on the St Petersburg metro that killed 15 people was also linked to radical Islamists. Militant groups have been fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus region of the country for decades.
Large numbers of them flocked to Syria to join IS when the group was formed 10 years ago. Some militants that operate in the Russian North Caucasus have declared allegiance to IS. But the specific group that has claimed today’s attack, ISIS-K.
US Had Warned Of Potential Attack
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia said it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,” including concerts. The embassy warned US citizens to avoid large gatherings. On Friday, following reports of the Crocus City Hall attack, it advised US citizens not to travel to Russia.
Starting in November, there has been a steady stream of intelligence that ISIS-K was determined to attack Russia, The Washington Post reported quoting two sources familiar with the information.
US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the US government had had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow – potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts – and that this is what prompted the State Department to issue the public advisory. “The US government also shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding ‘duty to warn’ policy,” Watson said.
A US official said Friday that Washington had no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim that it was responsible for the latest attack.
International Response
Ukraine, which has been embroiled in a war with Russia for more than two years, denied any involvement in the attack.
“Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote, in part, in a post on X. He said he believed Russia would use the attack to justify the ongoing conflict and scale up operations as part of “military propaganda” in Ukraine.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres late Friday condemned “in the strongest possible terms today’s terrorist attack” according to a statement released by his deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq.
“The secretary-general conveys his deep condolences to the bereaved families and the people and the government of the Russian Federation. He wishes those injured a speedy recovery,” the statement said.
In a separate statement, the UN Security Council called the attack “heinous and cowardly.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack. “France expresses its solidarity with the victims, their loved ones, and all the Russian people,” the Elysee Palace said, AFP and Reuters reported.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday that his country “strongly condemns the heinous attack” and expressed solidarity with the Russian people in a post on X.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denounced “the terrorist attack” and sent “deepest condolences and sincere sympathy.”
