At least 133 people killed in concert hall shooting near Moscow, Russia
23 March 2024
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Several gunmen attacked a concert hall on the outskirts of the Russian capital, Moscow, on the night of 22 March. Russia's Investigative Committee announced on the afternoon of the 23rd that the death toll had risen to at least 133.
The Investigative Committee said on the Telegram messaging app that emergency services investigating the site of the concert hall in Krasnogorsk, north-west of the capital Moscow, were finding more bodies.
It is believed that up to 6,200 people were in the venue at the time of the incident.
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, said the number of victims could rise "significantly".
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Russian authorities said more than 140 people were injured, and 107 were being treated in hospital. Of these, 16 are in 'severe condition', including one child, and 44 are in critical condition.
According to Russia's Investigative Committee, most of the people died from gunshot wounds or inhaling smoke from the fires.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) informed President Vladimir Putin that it had arrested 11 people, including four directly involved in the attack on the Kroks town hall.
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The Islamic State (I.S.) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. On the 23rd, I.S. posted pictures of four masked men it claimed were involved in the attack on its Amaq social media channel.
I.S. also relI.S.seI.S.highly graphic footage of the attack. One of the gunmen can be seen firing shots at several people. The BBC has confirmed that the footage is genuine but will not be broadcast.
Russia has not commented on the alleged I.S. attack.
4I.S.I.S.esident Putin hints at Ukraine's involvement
President Putin announced in a televised address to the nation on the afternoon of the 23rd that all four perpetrators had been arrested.
The president declared 24 March a national day of mourning. The attack was a "barbaric act of terrorism", he said, stressing that it "will not divide us".
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Putin also said that the attackers were trying to flee to Ukraine and that there were people on the Ukrainian side of the border trying to get them to cross.
Ukraine has so far denied any involvement. He dismissed as "ridiculous" the Kremlin's claim that the attacker was trying to flee to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his regular nightly online statement on Wednesday night, accused Putin of trying to blame Ukraine for the attack.
"It is clear what happened yesterday in Moscow, and Putin and the others are trying to shift the blame. It's what they always do. We've seen it many times... This is just nonsense, Putin. "Instead of moving and speaking for the Russian people, they remained silent all day, thinking about how to blame Ukraine for this," Zelenskiy said.
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The U.S. issued aU.S.arU.S.ng earlier this month.
CBS News, the BBC's American affiliate, reported that the government.S. received information indicating that I.S. inteI.S.ed to I.S.tack Russia, citing government officials.
Late on 22 March local time, the U.S. government rU.S.ealed that it had warned Russian authorities in early March that there were concerns about an attack on a "large gathering" in Moscow.
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"Earlier this month, the UU.S.governmentU.S.eived information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow," said National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Adrian Watson. "Information that large gatherings, including concerts, could be targeted. He explained. The U.S. government "Shared this information with Russian authorities," the spokesman said.
In early March, the U.S. embassy in MU.S.cow warned American citizens in Russia to avoid large gatherings. The warning said it was closely monitoring information that ``extremists will soon target a large gathering in Moscow.
On the night of the 22nd, the embassy updated its official website with a warning urging Americans to stay away from the area of the attack.
The White House on Monday condemned the "brutal" attack, calliI.S. I.S. "a common enI.S.y, terrorists, that must be defeated around the world".
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Just before the concert began
Video seen by the BBC shows at least four people wearing camouflage uniforms taking part in the attack at Krasnogorsk's Kroks town hall.
At around 8 pm, just before a rock concert was due to take place in the hall, the gunmen entered the lobby and then proceeded to the auditorium.
According to security guards, heavy gunmen entered the lobby and fired shots.
"There were three other guards, and we hid behind a signboard. The attackers passed about 10 metres from us," the guard told Baza, a social media channel, on Telegram. He started shooting indiscriminately at people on the ground.
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The fire appears to have been started by the attacker throwing some incendiary device.
Most of the building was engulfed in flames, and part of the roof collapsed. The glass on the second floor above the hall was also blown out.
Vitali, a man who witnessed the attack, said he was sitting on the upper floor of the hall and saw the gunman start shooting. "We threw some Molotov cocktails, and everything started to burn. We were led to the exit," Vitali said.
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More than 6,000 people had gathered in the hall for a concert by the rock band Picnic. According to witnesses, the attack began minutes before the band took the stage. The band members are said to be safe.
A woman inside the hall told Russian television that she and other audience members rushed for the exit when they heard the gunshots. She said: I saw someone with a gun on the first floor and heard shots. I tried to hide behind the loudspeakers.
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Another witness said there was also a ballroom dancing competition in a separate room in the same building and that many children were present at the time of the attack.
Some people in the concert hall escaped through the stage to the car park. Russian authorities said some fled to the roof, while more than 100 fled from the basement.
Dozens of ambulances immediately rushed to the scene.
On the 23rd, many flowers and candles were laid outside the concert hall. Citizens queued up across Moscow to donate blood for the victims.
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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that all official events scheduled for this weekend in the capital had been cancelled. He said: ``I would like to express my condolences to all the victims' relatives.
Other cities and regions also announced the cancellation of events, including St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community to condemn the attack, calling it an 'unconscionable crime'.
Ukraine immediately denies involvement.
The Ukrainian government immediately denied any involvement.
"All in all, for Ukraine, everything is decided on the battlefield," presidential aide Mykhailo Podlyak wrote on Telegram.
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Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said the incident was a "deliberate provocation by Putin's special forces" but offered no evidence.
According to Russian state media, the FSB said in a statement that the group that attacked the concert hall intended to cross the border into Ukraine and had "contacts" on the Ukrainian side.
The Ukrainian government denied this, calling it a 'ridiculous statement'. Andriy Yusov, spokesman for the defence ministry's intelligence directorate, told the BBC that Ukrainian military and special forces were concentrated in the Russia-Ukraine border area, adding: "If the suspect is heading there... "The suspect is either stupid or suicidal."
Ukrainian military intelligence officials have argued that the Russian government planned the attack to blame Ukraine and mobilise more people.
White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said the footage of the shooting was "horrific and painful to watch". He added: "Our thoughts, of course, are with the victims of this horrific shooting."
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There was also a theatre attack in 2002.
Wednesday's attack was the deadliest attack on civilian targets in Moscow in recent years.
In October 2002, Chechen militants seized a Moscow theatre and took more than 900 spectators hostage.
Special forces poured military-grade gas into the theatre and entered three days later.
Some 130 hostages died in the incident.
Security is currently being stepped up at airports and railway stations in Russia.
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<Commentary> Why is the Islamic State attacking Russia?
If claims by the Islamic State (I.S.) group that it was responsible for the attacks near Moscow are confirmed, it would be yet another attack by Islamists both inside and outside Russia.
In November 2015, a Russian passenger plane was blown up over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Most of the 224 passengers and crew were Russian citizens.
I.S., which claimed responsibility for the attack, later released photos of the explosives.
In 2017, 15 people were killed in an explosion on the St Petersburg metro. This was also linked to Islamic extremism.
Armed groups have been fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia for decades.
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Many of them went straight to Syria and became members of the Islamic State group when it was formed there ten years ago. Experts say some militant groups operating in Russia's North Caucasus have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
However, it was IS-K that claimed responsibility for the attack on the night of the 22nd. The 'K' stands for 'Khorasan', the old name that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
IS-K has often criticised President Putin and targeted Russia, counter-terrorism experts say.
IS-K accuses Russian forces of atrocities against Muslims in Chechnya and Syria, as well as the former Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
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