Gunmen opened fire at a rock event in a Moscow suburb on Friday, killing at least 40 people, injuring 100 others, and igniting a fire in the theater, according to authorities.
Attackers dressed in camouflage entered the building, opened fire, and dropped a grenade or incendiary bomb, according to a journalist from the RIA Novosti news agency on the site.
The fire soon spread across the Crocus City music hall in the Krasnogorsk district to the north of the Russian capital, which can seat several thousand people and has hosted prominent international singers.
“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,” according to the FSB security service, as reported by Interfax and other Russian media outlets.
Authorities launched a “terrorist” inquiry, and President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, informed Russian news media that he was receiving “constant” updates on the attack.
Telegram news channels Baza and Mash, which are close to security personnel, broadcast video footage of flames and black smoke pouring from the hall.
Other photographs showed two males walking through the hall, leaving at least one person on the ground at the door. Concertgoers were also spotted hiding behind seats or attempting to flee.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared a “terrible tragedy” during the concert by Russian rock band Piknik and canceled all public events for the weekend.
According to security sources published by Interfax news agency, two to five people “wearing tactical uniforms and carrying automatic weapons” opened fire on guards at the entrance before shooting into the audience.
“People who were in the hall were led on the ground to protect themselves from the shooting for 15 or 20 minutes,” the RIA Novosti journalist said.
When the journalist declared that it was safe, people began creeping out.
‘Odious crime’
According to the emergency services ministry’s Telegram channel, approximately 100 individuals fled through the theatre basement, while others sought refuge on the roof.
However, TASS stated that around one-third of the complex was on fire.
According to Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, it was a “bloody terrorist attack”.
“The whole international community must condemn this odious crime,” she said on Telegram.
The US presidency called the attack “terrible” but said there was no immediate sign of any link to the conflict in Ukraine.
“There is no indication at this time that Ukraine or Ukrainians were involved in the shooting,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev vowed on Telegram that Ukraine’s top officials “must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists” if they were linked to the attack.
“I offer my condolences to the families of the dead,” said Moscow’s mayor as a major security operation was launched around the theatre and nearby shopping mall.
TASS said that SOBR, special police units, and the OMON anti-riot team had been dispatched to the Crocus hall.
It further stated that all members of the rock band had been safely evacuated.
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Orthodox Church, was “praying for peace for the souls of the dead,” according to his spokesperson Vladimir Legoyda.
Previous Warnings
Previous Islamist attacks have targeted Moscow and other Russian cities, but there have also been events with no clear political motive.
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a warning that “extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts.”
In 2002, Chechen separatist terrorists kidnapped 912 people in the Dobrovka theatre in Moscow, demanding that Russian forces leave the region.
Special troops raided the theatre to terminate the hostage situation, killing 130 individuals, nearly all of whom were smothered by the gas deployed by security personnel to knock out the gunmen.
Russia initiated a military incursion in Ukraine in February 2022, and anti-Kremlin troops have attacked the country along its borders.
Ukraine’s presidency and the Freedom of Russia Legion, whose warriors are members of Ukraine’s military forces, denied any involvement in the music hall attack.