Two suspects have appeared in a Moscow court on charges of participating in terrorist acts after the Crocus City concert hall attack that killed 137 people.
Islamic State has released new footage of the attack, confirming the terror group’s claims that it masterminded the massacre, despite Russia’s efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine, an accusation Kiev denies. ing.
Friday’s Moscow attack was the deadliest attack so far in Europe claimed by IS, and the deadliest in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004.
A video released by IS news agency Amaq showed gunmen cornering concertgoers in the lobby of Crocus City Hall and shooting them at point-blank range, killing dozens of people. . At one point, one of the gunmen told another to “kill without mercy.”
President Vladimir Putin said 11 people were detained, including the four gunmen. Russia’s Investigative Committee released a video on Sunday showing the suspects being taken blindfolded to their headquarters in Moscow.
Two of the suspects later appeared in a Moscow court on charges of participating in the terrorist attack, TASS reported.
The suspects, identified as Saidakrami Mrodari Ratchabarizoda and Dareljon Barotovich Mirzoev, are charged with “causing the death of a person in a terrorist attack by a group of individuals,” TASS said.
The court released a video showing police officers leading one of the suspects into court in handcuffs, as well as a photo of the same man sitting in a glass cage meant for defendants. Authorities said the suspects were foreign nationals.
One of the suspects was blindfolded and led into court. When I took off the blindfold, I saw black eyes.
Russia marked a nationwide day of mourning on Sunday after the worst terrorist attack in the country in 20 years, with the official number of injured reaching 154. Russian authorities said at least 12 victims remained and they expected the death toll to rise further. He is in critical condition.
Thousands of people delivered flowers and other memorials to Crocus Town Hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk, but local emergency workers were still recovering from injuries and injuries inside the badly damaged entertainment complex. They said they are still searching for people who may have been left behind.
President Putin has not yet visited the scene of the shooting. The Kremlin released a video showing the president lighting candles in a church in his presidential palace outside Moscow on Sunday night in memory of those who died.
Foreign embassies in Moscow also expressed solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attack. Flags were lowered to half-staff at the embassies of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands as tensions over the Ukraine war escalated.
The Russian leader also claimed, without evidence, that he had “created a window” for terrorists to cross the border from Russia into Ukraine.
Kiev has vociferously denied any link to the attack and said it believes Moscow is preparing a pretext to escalate the conflict.
The United States said it had received information that the terrorist group acted alone. “ISIS is solely responsible for this attack. There was no involvement of Ukraine,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrian Watson said in a statement.
Russian officials and state media have largely ignored claims that IS was behind the attack. Independent Russian-language website Meduza said Russian state and pro-government media had been instructed by Putin’s government to highlight “signs” of possible Ukrainian involvement in the attack, according to two state media employees. It was reported that he had received.
Prominent state TV host Olga Skabeyeva claimed on Telegram that Ukrainian military intelligence had “recruited attackers who may resemble ISIS.” But this is not Isis. ”
President Putin did not name the Islamist terrorist organization in his official statement about the attack, but directly accused the “Ukrainian side” of involvement. IS also released photos of suspected gunmen before the attack. Researchers note that their clothing matches that worn by some of the attackers.
On Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed reports from US intelligence agencies that Islamic State was behind the attack. “I wish we could have solved the assassination of President Kennedy in our country so quickly,” she wrote on Telegram. “But no, after all, for more than 60 years we have not been able to find out who killed him. Or was it Isis too?”
“Until the investigation into the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall is completed, any language from Washington exonerating Kiev should be considered as evidence,” she added. “After all, America’s liberal Democratic Party’s financing of the terrorist activities of organized crime groups in Kyiv and their participation in the Biden family’s corrupt agenda has been ongoing for many years.”
New details emerge about how gunmen stormed a concert hall and began firing into the crowd, before setting the building on fire and fleeing the scene, sparking a frantic manhunt for the terrorists. Ta. Russia’s Investigative Committee said those who died at the concert hall died from gunshot wounds and “poisoning” related to the fire.
The perpetrators appear to have carefully planned their attack, starting the fire near the fire escape to gather people in the killing zone in the center of the lobby.
The men were arrested in southern Bryansk region, and authorities said they had arrested several suspects who fled into nearby forests after disabling the vehicle. A new video has been released showing Russian security forces interrogating men, at least one of whom spoke Tajik during the interrogation. Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry initially denied that the suspects were nationals.
In a telephone conversation on Sunday, President Putin and Tajikistan’s leader Emomali Rahmon “pointed out that Russian and Tajik security services and relevant agencies are working closely in counter-terrorism efforts, and that this effort will be strengthened.” Stated.
Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has previously been reported to have used military recruitment. radicalized People from Central Asia, including Tajikistan.
Some videos of the interrogation suggest the men were tortured by Russian security services. One video shared by a Russian blogger shows members of the security forces cutting off the ear of a man who is later questioned about the attack and shoving it into his mouth. The footage also shows security forces hitting and kicking the suspect with the butt of a rifle as he lies in the snow.
Russian independent media said that the police officer who apparently cut off the suspect’s ear was wearing a badge indicating support for neo-Nazi groups and appeared to be in contact with the far-right paramilitary group Ruschi, which operates in Ukraine. . The patch included a black sun and a sun-like symbol. totenkopf – or Death’s Head – worn by several Nazi divisions.
Experts have described Friday’s attack as the result of widespread failures in the country’s security services, preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and the brutal crackdown on the country’s opposition.
“The FSB clearly got their priorities wrong. They had the main source of intelligence on Ukraine and domestic opposition,” said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security services.
“What is surprising is the catastrophic incompetence of our security services,” Ivan Zhdanov, former head of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation, told AFP.
Andrei Soldatov, a prominent Russian researcher, said that the FSB has become “very efficient and innovative in repression…However, these are not qualities that will help prevent attacks from occurring, and the FSB has become very effective in intelligence gathering. “As an agency, we have failed time and time again. What we need is the ability to share information between national and international government agencies, and trust between and within those agencies.”
Meanwhile, Jeremy Hunt said Britain should be “absolutely” concerned about the threat posed by IS to its country following the terrorist attack in Moscow.
“We are very fortunate in this country to have incredibly good intelligence services that have successfully deterred and thwarted a number of terrorist threats in recent years,” the British Prime Minister told Sky News.
“But we have to remain vigilant. And if it’s Islamic State, they’re totally indiscriminate in whatever they do. They’re ready to kill in the most gruesome ways. .”
