Russian authorities said at least 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured after gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, on March 22 in an attack reportedly claimed by the Islamic State militant group.
The Baza website quoted unnamed sources as saying the number of dead was at least 62 and could rise, although that report could not be independently confirmed.
The Moscow Regional Health Ministry published a list of names of 145 victims who'd been taken to hospitals. The list includes children.
Hours after the incident began and with Russian media warning the perpetrators were still thought to be at large, Reuters and other agencies said Islamic State had claimed responsibility via its affiliated Telegram channels.
The IS statement said the attackers had "retreated to their bases safely."
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin leader had been informed "in the first minutes" of the attack and was "constantly receiving information about what's happening and about measures being taken through all relevant services."
RIA Novosti has reported that at least three gunmen were involved, while Interfax reported there were at least five attackers. The whereabouts or fate of the attackers was still unclear.
The Investigative Committee of Russia announced it had opened a criminal case.
The New York Times quoted unnamed officials as saying that U.S. intelligence gatherers received information in March that an Afghanistan-based branch of IS known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, was planning an attack in Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community "to condemn this bloody terrorist attack."
Shared videos showed attackers storming into the venue before the start of a concert by the musical group Piknik, with at least one firing an assault weapon as they moved through the building.
"According to preliminary information, 40 people were killed and more than 100 were injured as a result of a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall," the Federal Security Service (FSB) said.
Later, Russian media said 28 of the injured were in the Sklifosovsky Institute of Emergency Care in the capital.
An assistant to the head of the Russian Health Ministry said at one point that more than 50 ambulance teams and disaster medicine services were working at the scene.
Interfax reported that the blaze had spread to 12,900 square meters of the building. The roof of the building is said to have partially collapsed.
Shared video showed massive flames and smoke visible from a distance as it poured from the upper floors of the building, which is a popular concert venue in a high-end district on the edge of Moscow.
"A terrible tragedy occurred in the shopping center Crocus City today," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. "I am sorry for the loved ones of the victims."
Some Telegram and other social media accounts shared accounts of purported eyewitnesses, one of whom reported "shooting from all sides."
A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on March 22 that Kyiv was not involved and had "never used terrorist methods" as it continues to fight a 2-year-old full-scale Russian invasion. But Mykhaylo Podolyak warned the deadly incident would "contribute to a sharp increase in military propaganda, accelerated militarization, expanded mobilization, and, ultimately, the scaling up of the war."
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion for nearly 25 months, quickly alleged -- without providing any evidence -- that Russia's own special services had orchestrated it as "a deliberate provocation of the Putin regime" that foreign governments had warned about.
It alleged that the aim was to "further escalate and expand the war."
Foreign governments were said to have warned Russia in recent weeks of the risk of an incident.
The U.S. Embassy said on March 7 that it was "monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours."
"The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is horrified by reports coming from the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow," the U.S. Mission said in a statement. "We offer our sincere condolences to the Russian people for the lives lost and to those injured in tonight’s attack."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said through a spokesperson that he condemns the attack "in the strongest possible terms." The United States, France, Turkey, Italy, and other countries also condemned the incident.
The European Union said through a spokesman that it was "shocked and appalled by the reports" and that it "condemns any attacks against civilians," adding, "Our thoughts are with all those Russian citizens affected."
France's Foreign Ministry called the images from Moscow "horrifying."
"Our thoughts go to the victims and to those injured as well as to the Russian people," the ministry said, addingthat "all effort" must be made to "determine the causes of these heinous acts."
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the March 22 attack as an "odious act of terrorism."
With reporting by Reuters
This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty | Radio Free (2024-03-22T18:35:51+00:00) Dozens Dead After Gunmen Storm Moscow Concert Hall; Islamic State Claims Responsibility. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/03/22/dozens-dead-after-gunmen-storm-moscow-concert-hall-islamic-state-claims-responsibility/
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