At least 60 people were killed and 145 wounded late on Friday when camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on concertgoers near Moscow in one of the deadliest attacks on Russia in decades.
The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Gunmen burst into the and began shooting civilians who were there to see Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” perform to a full house at the 6,200-seat theatre.
Russia’s foreign ministry declared it a “bloody terror attack” with state media reporting the roof of the venue was collapsing.
The US Embassy warned on 7 March that “extremists” were planning something with the Russian presidential election just days away. Source: AAP / TASS
in what has been widely condemned as a sham electoral landslide.
Here’s what we know so far.
What happened?
At least five gunmen dressed in camoflauge took part in the attack, which was captured on video by panicked concertgoers.
Verified video showed people taking their seats in the hall and then rushing for the exits as repeated gunfire echoed above screams. Other videos showed men shooting at groups of people. Some victims lay motionless in pools of blood.
“Suddenly there were bangs behind us – shots. A burst of firing – I do not know what,” one witness, who asked not to be identified by name, told Reuters.
“A stampede began. Everyone ran to the escalator,” the witness said. “Everyone was screaming; everyone was running.”
Several explosions can be heard, in one video a purported attacker is seen starting a fire. State media RIA Novosti reported that the perpetrators used “a grenade or incendiary bomb.”
Who is behind the Crocus City Hall attack?
The IS group said its fighters attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, “killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely.” The statement gave no further detail.
A grainy picture was published by some Russian media of two of the alleged attackers in a white car. Some Russian media said the gunmen were still at large.
The attack on Crocus City Hall, about 20 km from the Kremlin, comes just two weeks after the US embassy in Russia warned that “extremists” had imminent plans for an attack in Moscow.
The United States has intelligence confirming the IS group’s claim of responsibility for the shooting, a US official said on Saturday. The official said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the course of the Syrian civil war by intervening in 2015, supporting President Bashar al-Assad against the opposition and Islamic State.
“ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticising Putin in its propaganda,” said Colin Clarke, with the Soufan Center. There is also a Caucasus branch of the IS group.
How did Vladimit Putin react?
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks on Saturday with the heads of law enforcement and emergency services following the deadly attack by gunmen on a Moscow concert hall, Russian news agencies said.
Putin received reports from the head of the security services (FSB), the Investigative Committee, the National Guard, and the ministers of interior, health and emergency situations, the news agencies reported, citing the Kremlin.
According to Russian news agencies, Putin said he “wishes the victims a speedy recovery”.
Reaction abroad
The US presidency called the attack “terrible” and said there was no immediate sign of any link to the conflict in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s presidency said Kyiv had “nothing to do” with the attack, while its military intelligence called the incident a Russian “provocation” and charged that Moscow special services were behind it.
The Freedom of Russia Legion, a pro-Ukrainian militia responsible for attacks on Russia’s border regions, also denied any role.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev vowed on Telegram that Ukraine’s top officials “must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists” if they were linked to the attack.
The European Union, France, Spain and Italy joined several countries in condemning the attack, with Italian premier Giorgia Meloni denouncing “an odious act of terrorism”.
Has this happened before?
In the early 2000s when Russia was at war with Chechen separatists, the country suffered a spate of terror attacks.
In October 2002 a major hostage situation unfolded at a theatre in Moscow, when militants took hundreds of people hostage. When Russian special forces stormed the building two days later, 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters died.
The death toll of the Crocus City Hall attack made it one of the worst attacks on Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, hostage.
