At least five people dressed in camouflage suits opened fire with automatic weapons this Friday at the Crocus City Hall exhibition hall in Moscow, where a large number of people were gathering to watch a concert. According to the Russian FSB, there are At least 115 dead and more than a hundred injured, according to the Russian Instruction Committee. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack through its Telegram channel. Before that, Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to the head of the President’s Office Ukraine had denied that its country was involved in the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps, which fights against the Kremlin in the Ukrainian war, had also denied having participated in the massacre.
First arrests
The Federal Security Service of Russia has announced the arrest of four individuals suspected of perpetrating the attack this past Friday at the Moscow concert hall Crocus City Hall, which has so far left more than 115 dead and more than a hundred injured.
The director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, has already informed the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, of these arrests, according to a statement collected by the Russian network RBC. Likewise, Bortnikov has also reported nine other detainees allegedly linked at various levels to the attack on the concert hall.
The armed group opened fire in the concert hall just before the Picnic group’s performance at 8:00 p.m. Moscow time (6:00 p.m. peninsular time). According to Ria Novosti, the attackers have launched a grenade or incendiary bomb that has started a fire in the building.
The people who were in the room lay down on the floor to escape the shooting, They stayed there for 15 or 20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out, Ria Novosti noted. According to TASS, the special forces of the Russian Guard and some 50 ambulances. It is estimated that a third of the building is on fire.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergui Sobianin, confirmed on his Telegram channel that several people have died: Today in (…) the Crocus City Hall a terrible tragedy. My condolences to the families of the dead. The United States has shown its condolences for what happened. The images are simply terrible, it is very difficult to watch. “This will be a difficult day, our thoughts are with them,” added a White House spokesperson.
The Press Secretary of the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, assured that Washington had no information about the attack. In addition, a US spokesman indicated that there is no evidence that Ukraine is behind the attack.
Ukraine denies involvement in attack
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak added that his country was not involved in the attack: Ukraine has absolutely and definitely nothing to do with the event. We have an intense and enormous large-scale war with the Russian army and with the Russian Federation. And despite everything, everything will be decided precisely on the Ukrainian battlefield.
On the other hand, the Intelligence Services (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense initially believe that the Russian secret services are responsible for the attack. This was a deliberate provocation by Putin’s special services, which the international community warned about. The Kremlin tyrant started his career with this and wants to end it with the same crimes against their own citizensGUR spokesman Andrii Yusov said.
