On 22 March 2024, at around 20:00 MSK (UTC+3), a coordinated attack occurred at the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, a Russian city on the western edge of Moscow. Four gunmen carried out a mass shooting on the people gathered at the venue and used incendiary devices to set the venue on fire.[10][11] Investigators said the following day the attack had killed at least 133 people,[12] with more than 100 concertgoers injured, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004 and the deadliest terrorist attack in Moscow since the 1999 apartment bombings.[13][14][15]
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attack a "barbaric terrorist act" and said that gunmen had been arrested. Two of the gunmen were later reported to be killed.[2] He also declared 24 March to be a national day of mourning.[10]
After years of relative silence, the Islamic State has been trying to increase its external attacks.[6] In January 2024, IS–KP conducted bombings in Iran that killed at least 103 people; the U.S. warned Iran of the possible attack.[6] Colin Clarke from the independent Soufan Center think tank stated that IS–KP "has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda."[19] Russia had also targeted the Islamic State during its intervention in the Syrian Civil War on behalf of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.[22]
On 7 March 2024, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) announced that it had neutralized a terrorist cell linked to IS in Moscow, which had intended to attack a synagogue in the city.[23] Hours later, the U.S. embassy in Moscow warned that "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts".[24][25] That day, the U.S. also privately warned Russian officials of the danger of an impending attack from IS–KP from intelligence gathered earlier in March, under the U.S. intelligence community's "duty to warn" requirement.[6]
On 19 March, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the U.S. embassy's warning "resembles outright blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society."[25][26] Putin had previously thanked the U.S. and the CIA for giving warnings that prevented terror attacks in Russia in 2017 and 2019.[27][28] U.S. officials confirmed to The New York Times that the attack was related to the prior U.S. warning,[25] and also stated that the intelligence reports that the warning was based on had been shared with Russian officials before the attack.[19]
Crocus City Hall was built in 2009 as a concert venue with a capacity of 6,200 people, and is one of the largest in the area.[11] It is part of a larger block of shopping centers, restaurants, and other attractions called Crocus City,[29] and was also the venue of the Miss Universe 2013 pageant.[30]
Attack
On 22 March 2024, the Russian band Picnic was scheduled to play a sold-out show at Crocus City Hall.[31][32] At around 20:00 MSK (UTC+3),[33] before the band began their performance, masked gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire on the crowd using assault rifles.[19][34] Because the show was about to begin, some believed the initial sound of gunshots was part of the act.[35] At the time of the attack, children and teenagers were also in the building for a ballroom dancing competition.[36] The venue's security guards were unarmed, and it is believed that some of them were among those killed in the attack.[37]
One witness described the attackers as bearded men.[38] Amateur video footage verified by BBC Verify showed masked gunmen shooting indiscriminately in the entrance hall and auditorium.[39] Other footage posted to Telegram showed men in military fatigues and baseball caps firing into crowds of screaming people.[20] The assailants were also reported to have used incendiary devices, with an eyewitness claiming the assailants used petrol bombs to start a fire in the auditorium.[36] Amateur video footage posted to social media sites showed huge fires and plumes of smoke coming from the building from the fires set by the assailants.[20] The fire in the complex was estimated to have covered an area of 12,900 square metres (139,000 square feet).[40]
Hours later, an explosion was reported, followed by a partial roof collapse.[41]Moscow Oblast governor Andrey Vorobyov said the roof over the hall had collapsed.[42]
Specialized police units from the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) and Special Purposes Mobile Unit (OMON) were sent to the scene,[43] arriving over one hour after the shootings started, according to Nexta.[44] Vorobyov went to the scene to set up a task force to handle the situation.[20] The National Guard of Russia was also dispatched to search for the assailants,[39] with a picture posted of the suspected assailants fleeing in a white Renault car.[45] The arrival of security forces to the site was delayed by an hour and a half due to heavy traffic jams.[46]
Survivors were evacuated via medical helicopters,[47] with 70 ambulance crews reportedly being dispatched.[38] An unknown number of people fled to the parking area from the stage, while others fled to the roof.[48] Authorities evacuated approximately 100 people hiding in the basement.[16] A survivor said that escapees were hampered by locked doors, forcing some of them to break a door open in order to escape.[49]Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading,[50] while three helicopters were deployed to dump water on the burning rooftop.[51]
By 07:00 on 23 March, Vorobyov reported the fire had been contained and mostly extinguished.[52] He released video showing extensive damage to the building with the roof and upper rows of the concert hall completely collapsed.[53] By 11:30 that same day, the fire had been completely extinguished.[54]
An IS–KP report had also claimed that the assailants had pistols and knives.[1]
Casualties
At least 133 people were killed[3] and over 145 were injured, with 107 people hospitalized[55] and at least 60 people in critical condition.[34][56] Aside from gunshot wounds, some of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation.[57] According to the Russian Minister of Health, Mikhail Murashko, five children were injured in the attack.[56] At least three children were killed,[58] while the oldest fatality was estimated to be in her 70s. Most of the victims came from the northwestern edge of Moscow, including Krasnogorsk and Khimki.[57]
The members of Picnic later posted on Instagram that they and their management were "alive and safe",[59] with TASS later reporting that they had been evacuated.[60]
Investigation
As of 23 March 11 people have been detained, and the four suspected assailants in the white car were captured[61] 140 kilometers (85 miles) from the Ukrainian border in Bryansk Oblast,[62] about 340 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of Moscow, on the evening of 22 March.[63][64][22] However, as of March 22 they had yet to be identified.[39] Russia coordinated with Belarusian security forces to prevent the suspects from crossing the Belarus–Russia border.[65] The Investigative Committee of Russia launched a criminal terrorist probe into the attack.[66]
State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein said that Tajik passports were discovered in the vehicle of the individuals in custody,[67] and the Russian Telegram channel Baza identified the four attackers as citizens of Tajikistan.[68] Officials later said that none of the attackers were Russian citizens.[69] A short video on Telegram allegedly showed one of the suspects, reported to be 30-year-old Rajab Alizade, being tortured by FSB agents, who cut off his ear and forced him to eat it.[70] In another interrogation video released by Russian state media, a 25-year old suspect identified as Fariddun Shamsutdin said that he participated in the attack in exchange for 1 million rubles ($10,800), half of which he claimed to have already received by card transfer from individuals who contacted him on Telegram and whose identities he did not know.[71] A suspect was killed at the Crocus City Hall, while another was killed in Bryansk Oblast.[2]
Responsibility for the attack
Islamic State – Khorasan Province
IS–KP claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after in a statement released by Amaq News Agency via Telegram,[17][73] stating that the attackers "retreated to their bases safely".[74] The group is a regional branch of the Islamic State, an international terrorist group active in South-Central Asia, primarily Afghanistan.[75] U.S. officials stated they had intelligence indicating that IS–KP had been planning an attack on the city.[6] On 23 March, IS–KP released photos of the attackers and a full report on the attack.[1][7]
Putin and the FSB claimed that terrorists tried to cross the Russia–Ukraine border and had contacts on the "Ukrainian side". Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack,[13][76][77][78] and described the FSB's claims as a "very doubtful and primitive" disinformation, recalling that the border is heavily guarded by soldiers and drones, mined in many areas, and constantly shelled from both sides.[79] Latvia-based Russian news outlet Meduza reported that pro-government and state-funded media in Russia were instructed by the Russian government to highlight possible "traces" of Ukrainian involvement.[80]
Despite a police cordon, passersby laid tributes outside Crocus City Hall following the attack, while advertising billboards in Moscow displayed memorial posters showing a candle and the message "We mourn".[49]
In an address to the nation on 23 March, President Putin announced that 24 March would be a day of national mourning for the victims of the attack and vowed to punish those responsible. Putin also stated that all the attackers, whom he compared to the Nazis,[35] had been apprehended, and alleged that the attackers were trying to enter the Ukrainian border,[84] where he said a "window" was prepared on the Ukrainian side.[85]
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin cancelled all weekend events in the city,[86][87] and security was tightened across airports and train and subway stations serving the city.[88][89][90] The Russian Ministry of Culture later cancelled events nationwide.[91] In Saint Petersburg, shopping centers were closed, and Leningrad Oblast was put on high alert.[51][92] At least 3,000 people donated blood[93] for the victims at the Gavrilov Blood Center in Moscow, the country's largest blood transfusion facility, and other medical facilities.[40][63][85]Sberbank, Sovcombank, and Home Bank pledged to settle loans and relieve the debts of the families of clients who were killed or injured in the attack.[94]
A friendly football match between Russia and Paraguay scheduled on 25 March was cancelled due to the attack.[95]
Responses
Domestic
Russian president Vladimir Putin wished those injured in the attack a speedy recovery and praised the doctors involved in treating the victims.[96] A spokesperson for Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church said that he was "praying for peace for the souls of the dead".[97][98]
The U.S. embassy in Moscow expressed "sincere condolences to the Russian people",[100] while advising its citizens to avoid the area as they were "severely limited" in their ability to assist U.S. citizens due to the limits placed on U.S. personnel's ability to travel within Russia.[100][101][102] The British embassy in Moscow condemned the attack and expressed its "sincere condolences to the relatives and loved ones of those hurt and killed in today's events".[38]
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry rejected assumptions by some Russian officials that Ukraine may have been involved in the attack,[111] stating that it regarded such accusations as a "planned provocation by the Kremlin to further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russian society, create conditions for increased mobilisation of Russian citizens to participate in the criminal aggression against our country and discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community."[112] Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) claimed the shooting was a "planned and deliberate provocation by the Russian special services" at the behest of Putin.[113][114]
2024 Kerman bombings - Terrorist attack in Iran orchestrated by ISIS-K earlier in 2024
References
^ abcdef"تنظيم "الدولة" يقدم روايته عن هجوم موسكو" [The organization of the [Islamic] "State" presents its version about the Moscow attack]. Enab Baladi (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
^Заседание коллегии ФСБ России [Meeting of the FSB board]. kremlin.ru (in Russian). 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024. Let me remind you of recent, frankly, provocative statements by a number of official Western structures about the possibility terrorist attacks in Russia. All this resembles frank blackmail and intention intimidate, destabilize our society. You know this well, now I will not go into details. (translation)