Russia arrests suspected gunmen as the concert death toll rises to 115
Arrests Suspected gunmen- Russia has arrested 11 people including four suspected gunmen in connection
with a shooting rampage that killed at least 115 people in a concert hall near Moscow, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
The bloodiest attack to strike Russia in 20 years was carried out on Friday,
according to the militant Islamist group Islamic State. Mykhailo Podolyak, the assistant to the Ukrainian president,
claimed that Kyiv had nothing to do with the connection, but there were signs that Russia was looking into it.
“All four terrorists” were apprehended on route to the Ukrainian border, according to the FSB security service,
which also claimed that they had contacts in the country. They were reportedly being moved to Moscow.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Telegram,
“Now we know which country these bloody bastards planned to hide from pursuit – Ukraine.”
Senior Russian politician Andrei Kartapolov stated that Russia needed to respond on the battlefield with something
“worthy, clear, and concrete” if Ukraine was involved.
According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin received a report from FSB Chief Alexander Bortnikov stating
that “four terrorists” were among those detained and that the agency was investigating their collaborators.
Alexander Khinshtein, a legislator from Russia, claimed that the assailants had driven away in a Renault car after being seen
by police on Friday night in the Bryansk district, some 340 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of Moscow, defying orders to stop.
According to Khinshtein, the automobile had a pistol, an assault rifle magazine, and passports from Tajikistan.
Previously a part of Central Asia, Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim nation.
Moscow shooting: At least 115 killed in ‘bloody terrorist attack’ at concert hall
On Friday, gunmen dressed in camouflage broke into a performance hall outside of Moscow,
leaving at least 115 people dead and 145 injured. Flames from a fire could be seen for kilometers after it started.
After releasing the death toll, the Russian Investigative Committee stated in a statement that
“unfortunately, the number of victims could increase.”
According to a statement from the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB,
eleven people were apprehended, including four who were directly involved in the attack.
According to the service, the four were apprehended while trying to drive across the border
between Russia and Ukraine in the Bryansk area.
A government official told NPR that the United States believes Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, is to blame.
The eastern Afghanistan-based gang took credit for the incident on its Telegram channel.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement that
the United States had informed Russia earlier this month about a planned terror act in Moscow that might have targeted concerts.
The seasoned Russian rock band Picnic was scheduled to perform at
Moscow’s Crocus City Hall venue when a number of armed individuals dressed in fatigues from the military broke in.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet made a formal statement on the incidents; instead, through a senior administration official, he has wished the injured people a swift recovery and expressed gratitude to the physicians.
Putin, according to the Kremlin, learned of the incident minutes after it started and
had updates from the leaders of his security and disaster preparedness departments that night.
Some Russian authorities are claiming that there must be some Ukrainian involvement, which the Ukrainians reject.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s counselor, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted,
“Ukraine definitely had nothing to do with the shooting in the Crocus City Hall.” It is completely nonsensical.”
In a statement, the White House described the attack as “terrible” and stated that there was
Spokesman for the National Security Council John Kirby described the shooting’s photos as “horrible and hard to watch.” The American consulate in Moscow has advised its nationals to stay away from the region.
In 2002, a hostage situation occurred in Moscow at the Dubrovka theater, as Chechen terrorists demanding the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Chechnya held some eight hundred theatergoers hostage.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, urged nations to denounce the event as “a monstrous crime.”
In the meantime, lines formed in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to give blood for the victims.
Unplanned floral tributes have appeared in numerous Russian cities and outside Russian missions abroad, such as the Russian consulate in New York.
Arrests suspected gunmen INTERROGATED:
The suspect in the interrogation video was shown replying in heavily accented Russian to a series of barked questions. He said he had flown from Turkey on March 4 and had received instructions from unknown people via Telegram to carry out the attack in exchange for money.
The man was trembling throughout the questioning.
Russia has yet to publicly present evidence of any Ukrainian link to the attack.
“Let’s be straight about this: Ukraine had absolutely nothing to do with these events,”
Ukrainian adviser Podolyak said. “We have a full-scale, all-out war with the Russian regular army and with the Russian Federation as a country. And regardless of everything, everything will be decided on the battlefield.”
Putin, re-elected last Sunday for another six-year term, has yet to comment publicly on the attack.
The Kremlin said he had held conversations with the leaders of Belarus and Uzbekistan in which
all sides affirmed their willingness to work together to fight terrorism.
Arrests suspected gunmen -GUNFIRE AND SCREAMS:
Verified footage showed attendees filing into the music venue, then hurrying out as gunfire resounded over cries.
Some victims in blood pools lay lifeless.
“Above us, there were gunshots and a sudden bang.
“I don’t know what caused the burst of firing.”
On Saturday, there were lengthy lineups in Moscow to donate blood.
According to the militant organization’s Amaq agency on Telegram, Islamic State,
which had aspired to seize control of large areas of Syria and Iraq, took credit for the strike.
WORLD REACTION
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova said it was a “bloody terrorist attack” that the world should condemn.
The United States, European and Arab powers and many former Soviet republics expressed shock and sent their condolences.
The United Nations Security Council condemned what it called a “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack”.
Russia tightened security at airports, transport hubs and across the capital – a vast urban area of over 21 million people.
Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly warned that various powers –
including countries in the West – are seeking to sow chaos inside Russia.
