A “bloody, barbaric terrorist act” killed at least 130 people Friday evening in Moscow: State-imposed sanctions against Ukraine in a concert hall
The death toll from a mass shooting at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow Friday evening has risen to at least 133 people, as emergency responders continued to clear away the rubble. At least another 145 others were reported injured.
Putin called the attack “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.
There is only one person responsible for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
“The U.S. Government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow – potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts,” Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in a statement.
Putin didn’t mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia’s fight in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.
“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” Putin said.
Russian investigators said the assailants were detained in the western Bryansk region, not far from the border with Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have denied any involvement, with the foreign ministry accusing Russians of using the attack to push for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
There was an attack on a large shopping and entertainment center on the western outskirts of Moscow late Friday after camouflaged bandits carrying automatic rifles burst into the building. Concertgoers had gathered at the venue to see the veteran Russian rock band Piknik.
Harrowing video footage shows the men firing at bystanders as they attempted to hide or rush for the emergency exits. Some witnesses reported seeing the attackers pour liquid on the seating and curtains of the concert hall before setting it on fire. Additional footage released by Russian authorities shows the charred seating and debris from inside the venue.
MOSCOW — Family and friends of those still missing after an attack that killed more than 130 people at a suburban Moscow concert hall waited for news of their loved ones as Russia observed a day of national mourning on Sunday.
Events at cultural institutions were canceled, flags were lowered to half-staff and television entertainment and advertising were suspended, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. A steady stream of people added to a makeshift memorial near the burnt-out concert hall, creating a huge mound of flowers.
“People came to a concert, some people came to relax with their families, and any one of us could have been in that situation. And I want to express my condolences to all the families that were affected here and I want to pay tribute to these people,” Andrey Kondakov, one of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the memorial, told The Associated Press.
“It is a tragedy that has affected our entire country,” kindergarten employee Marina Korshunova said. It makes no sense that children were affected by this event. Three children were among the dead.
Some families don’t know if loved ones are alive, as the death toll continues to rise and rescuers continue their search for survivors of the attack on the event. Moscow’s Department of Health said Sunday it has begun identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, which will need at least two weeks.
The Moscow-based Islamic State group stepped up to attack a concertgoer who had been killed by a bullet and stabbed by four men
After Pogadaev saw the reports of gunmen opening fire on concertgoers, he rushed to the site, but couldn’t find her in the numerous ambulances or among the hundreds of people who had made their way out of the venue.
I showed photographs while I went around and searched. No one saw anything, no one could say anything,” Pogadaev told the AP in a video message.
As the death toll mounted on Saturday, Pogodaev searched the hospitals for information on newly admitted patients.
Though no court hearing has been officially announced, there was a heavy police presence around Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Sunday. Journalists were being tried on by police at the court.
A man who said he was approached by an Islamic preacher’s assistant through a messaging app and demanded to join a raid is in one of the videos that Russian media broadcast.
The raid was a big embarrassment for the Russian leader and happened just days after he was reelected for another six years in a vote that followed the most severe attack on dissent since the Soviet times.
Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warnings.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the U.S. condemned the attack and said that the Islamic State group is a “common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere.”
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
The group issued a new statement Saturday on Aamaq, saying the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, casting the raid as part of the Islamic State group’s ongoing war with countries that it says are fighting against Islam.
In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.