Afrasianet - On Friday, March 22, 2024, gunmen carried out a bloody attack on the "Crocos" concert hall in the northwestern suburb of Krasnogorsk, killing at least 143 people and injuring about 152, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to social media accounts usually used by the organization.
The following are the most prominent circumstances and details of the attack.
Attack Scene
• The attack took place at a concert hall at the Crocos shopping mall west of Moscow's sprawling capital of about 12 million people.
• The center is located in Krasnogorsk, about 20 kilometers west of the presidential residence (Kremlin) and along the Moscow Ring Road.
• Opened in 2009, the center's concert hall is a popular entertainment venue with a capacity of 6,200 people.
• Former US President Donald Trump once held a Miss Universe pageant in the hall.
Details of the attack
• The attack began on Friday night as people took their seats for a sold out show by Picnic, a popular Soviet-era rock band.
• Five men in military uniform entered the concert hall and opened fire on those inside.
• An eyewitness named Dave Primov told The Associated Press that chaos occurred once the shooting was fired.
• Primov: There was a hail of bullets. We all got up and tried to move towards the corridors. Panic began and everyone ran and bumped into each other. Some fell and others trampled on them.
• At least 143 people have been killed and more than 152 wounded in one of the worst attacks in the country in decades, Russian investigators say.
• The attackers dropped explosives that ignited a huge fire that at one point covered an area of up to 12,900 square meters, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
• Videos posted on social media platforms showed the gunmen repeatedly shooting as they entered the building, shooting at people at close range.
• Another video showed a man in the hall saying the attackers set it on fire. Helicopters intervened to put out the flames from the air, while firefighters battled flames from the ground. The fire was eventually brought under control early Saturday.
• The Ministry of Emergency Situations said firefighters helped about 100 people escape through the building's basement, while rescue operations also began for people trapped on the roof.
• TASS news agency said members of the band "Picnic" were unharmed and evacuated safely. Hunt attackers
• Russia's Investigative Committee, the government's highest criminal investigation agency, opened a "terrorist" investigation into the attack, and the National Guard was among the units deployed to search for the militants.
• Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council and key ally of President Vladimir Putin: Moscow' s attack shows how serious the terrorist threat is to Russia.
• Politician Alexander Khenstein quoted "preliminary information": At least two suspects were arrested in the Bryansk region, about 340 kilometers southwest of Moscow, after a car chase. The other suspects have fled to a nearby forest and are being pursued.
• The Kremlin did not immediately accuse anyone of the attack, but some Russian politicians were quick to accuse Ukraine.
What did Putin say?
• All those responsible for the Moscow attack will be identified and punished. "All the perpetrators and organizers of this crime will inevitably face just punishment."
• No matter who they are or who directed them, we will identify and punish everyone behind this terrorist attack.
• The attackers tried to flee towards Ukraine.
• Preliminary information showed that some people in Ukraine are willing to be allowed to cross the border from Russia.
• Sunday was declared a national day of mourning.
International reactions
• Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his "condolences" to Putin. China opposes all forms of terrorism, firmly condemns the terrorist attack and firmly supports the Russian government's efforts to safeguard its national security and stability, he said.
• White House spokesman John Kirby said: "The images are horrific and difficult to see, and our feelings will be with the victims of this horrific attack."
• The European Union said it was "shocked and dismayed" by the attack. An EU spokesman said: "The EU condemns any attacks against civilians. Our feelings are with all the Russian citizens affected."
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on platform X: "We strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. India stands in solidarity with the government and people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief."
• French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement issued by the Elysee Palace that he "strongly condemns the terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State." "France expresses its solidarity with the victims, their loved ones and the entire Russian people," he added.
• Other countries condemning the attack included Germany, Afghanistan, Norway, Cuba, Italy, Japan, Venezuela, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Malaysia.
Broadcast images and survivor testimonies confirmed the attackers' eagerness to inflict maximum casualties by indiscriminately shooting at rock bandgoers, setting the theater on fire with a bomb or throwing flammable materials.
The incident was described by Russian analysts as a new Sept. 11 attack, this time against Russia, which is waging a fierce war against Ukraine and its allies, led by the United States.
ISIS was quick to claim responsibility for the attack, shortly after it happened, as the Amaq news agency, which is close to the organization, published a statement attributed to a "security source" confirming that ISIS fighters targeted a gathering of "Christians" on the outskirts of the Russian capital, and that they withdrew to their bases safely.
But Russia, which has experienced the group well in Syria and knows how it was used there to strike the revolution of the Syrian people, questioned the statement, saying it did not reflect the truth.
Moscow understands that the organization, even if it is indeed the perpetrator, is infiltrated by the security services of the world's intelligence services, and is mainly and primarily employed to serve global agendas, as happened in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and others.
The Moscow attack raised legitimate questions about the group's objectives behind the operation, or those who hired it to carry it out.
Attack targets
Despite the group's claim of responsibility for the attack, and the success of the Russian authorities in arresting the perpetrators of the attack while they were trying to flee to Ukraine, Russian officials, led by President Vladimir Putin, are convinced that the organization is nothing but a "pawn" on the international "chessboard" and that it was employed by other countries to carry out the attack.
The Russian Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement that all the perpetrators of the attack were foreigners and did not include Russian citizens.
The confessions of one of the defendants also reinforced these suspicions, as he confirmed that he participated in the attack in exchange for money, and that he was recruited through a group on the Telegram application, without knowing the identity of the official, adding that he found the weapon hidden in one of the places to which it was directed, noting that he arrived in Russia from Turkey earlier this month.
Therefore, those parties that employed the organization to carry out the attack wanted to achieve the following objectives:
First: Returning the phenomenon of Islamophobia to the forefront, to besiege the wide sympathy that Muslims have received due to the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the severe damage caused to the Zionist movement due to massacres against civilians, especially women and children. Over the past months, we have seen how hostility and rejection of the Zionist movement has escalated in its traditional strongholds in the United States and Europe.
Second: Striking stability inside Russia and showing it as a weak and fragile state in security, and the involvement of Muslim elements in carrying out the attack and the opinion of those behind the attack, can contribute to social stability within the Russian Federation, where there are more than twenty million Muslims who enjoy their religious and civil rights without discrimination. Especially the Muslims of the Chechen Republic play an important role in the fight next to Russian forces in their war against Ukraine.
Third: The worsening of the relationship between Turkey and Russia, as one of the detainees admitted that he came to Russia from Turkey. Previous attempts have been made to drag the two countries into confrontation, most famously when a Russian warplane was shot down in November 2015 by a Turkish fighter jet, and the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey in December 2016 by a Turkish policeman.
Such crises have been contained by the two countries, but Turkey's neutral position on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is not acceptable to its NATO allies, who are interested in this advanced stage of the conflict to fabricate a new crisis between the two countries and force Turkey, which shares the Black Sea with Russia, to abandon neutrality and participate in strengthening military efforts against Russia.
Certainly, the investigations will reveal how the operation was carried out, and whether the organization's elements were actually employed in this operation, or was its name used afterwards to camouflage the original perpetrator?
In any case, the Russian response will not stop at the limits of the organization, but will include the parties behind it, and the Ukrainian arena is wide open to such responses.
Interestingly, Washington immediately denied after the attack that Ukraine was involved in the armed attack, with US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrian Watson saying that Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, bore sole responsibility.
"Islamic State alone bears responsibility for this attack, and there is no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever."
Zelensky said Putin was trying to blame Ukraine for the "terrorist" attack in Moscow.
Putin had earlier vowed to hold accountable all those responsible for the deadly attack, calling it a "barbaric act of terrorism."
Putin said in a televised address that the four militants who carried out the attack on the Crokos hall in the northwestern suburb of Krasnogorsk had been arrested before they could cross the border into Ukraine.
"They were heading towards Ukraine where they had a way to cross the border, according to preliminary information."
The FSB said the suspects had planned to cross the border and had been in contact with people on the Ukrainian side.
Confessions of those involved in the attack
• In one of the interrogation videos, published by the RIA Novosti news agency, a man lying on the ground appears to answer a security officer's question: "I was in Turkey where my passport expired."
• The man identified himself as Chamseddine Fereydoun, adding that he was born on September 17, 1998.
• According to the Russian Interior Ministry, the four suspected gunmen arrested in the deadly attack that took place on Friday night are foreign citizens, and some media reported that they included citizens of Republic of Tajikistan in Central Asia.
• Fereydoun confessed in the video that he and his companions shot people in Crocs City Hall for money, according to The Moscow Times.
• Fereydoon explained that he had received promises of one million rubles ($10,800) to carry out the attack, and claimed that he had already received half of them by transferring the amount to his bank card.
• Fereydoon confirmed that he does not know the identity of the individuals who paid him to carry out the attack, but communicated with him via Telegram.
• In another video published by RIA Novosti, another man speaking in Tajik is seen being interrogated through an interpreter.
• According to the man, he was living in a hostel with other suspected attackers behind Friday's attack.
• The man claimed to have been in contact with individuals under the names of Abdullah and Mohammed, but it was not clear to whom He was pointing exactly.
• Another man arrested by law enforcement identified himself in a third video, as Rajab Alizadeh.
• Alizadeh said he laid down arms on his way to the Bryansk province with his accomplices.
• Another person, who identified himself as Mehmet Sabir Fayzov, confessed to receiving residence documents in Russia at the airport directly from people he did not know, according to Russian media.
The United States says it has already warned of a possible terrorist attack in Russia, and on March 8, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said it was monitoring reports of plans by "extremists" to attack large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts.
But Russian officials Rogoff responded by saying the U.S. warning did not include practically any details and was more aimed at sowing panic within Russian society.
"If the United States knew about the impending terrorist attack, why didn't it send the exact details of the plan of attack and the potential perpetrators? These questions have not yet been answered."
In turn, the leader of the French "Patriots" party, Florian Filippo, called for a full investigation into the possible links between Ukraine and the Crocus terrorist attack.
Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron's statement condemning the terrorist attack in Russia, Filippo said on platform X : "Now it is necessary to demand a full investigation into the possible links of the terrorist attack with Ukraine and on what the billions we sent to Ukraine for more than two years are going."
He pointed to the "long time" it took Macron to respond to the tragedy on the outskirts of Moscow.
He did not rule out that the French president "wants to obstruct the emergence of the truth."
Meanwhile, international news agencies continue to promote the fake announcement published on Friday evening claiming responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Crocos City Hall shopping mall on the outskirts of the Russian capital, Moscow.
News agencies insist on adopting this fraudulent narrative, despite the confirmation of the Russian Federal Security Service that the militants intended after the terrorist attack "Crokos" to cross the border between Russia and Ukraine, and confirmed that they had related links on the Ukrainian side.
Russian intelligence indicates in a statement that this terrorist attack was carefully planned and weapons and ammunition were placed in a pre-prepared bunker, knowing that one of the suspects in the "Crokos" terrorist attack, who identified himself as Rezhap Alizadeh, said during interrogation that he dropped the weapon with his accomplices on his way to a Russian province near the Ukrainian border.
AFP on Saturday renewed the details of a fake announcement blaming ISIS for the terror attack, even calling it a deadly rather than a terrorist attack.
The French news agency said that the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in Moscow on Friday without any details about the perpetrators, noting that experts in terrorism cases suspect that they belong to the "branch of the Afghan organization" - Khorasan province.
Not only did the agency formalize the false declaration, but it also delved into the history of the "Afghan organization-Khorasan Province branch" and mentioned a number of operations carried out by the terrorist organization.
Reuters was one of the first agencies to publish a story on Friday evening that ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack on the mall on the outskirts of Moscow, an announcement that was questioned by many media outlets, including Russian.
On Friday evening, a number of gunmen stormed the Crocus center,fired at the crowd at close range and threw petrol bombs, causing a huge fire in the building.