It is the deadliest attack in Russia in twenty years. The attack on Friday at Crocus City Hall near Moscow left at least 137 dead and 182 injured according to the latest report. Health services said Sunday evening that the number of injured had been reassessed at 182, of whom 101 were still hospitalized.
Investigators continue to search the rubble of the building housing the concert hall, ravaged by a gigantic fire started by the attackers. The attack was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). The Russian authorities had still not mentioned the responsibility of this group on Sunday, instead citing a Ukrainian lead, denied in particular by Washington.
The four alleged attackers placed in pre-trial detention
The four suspected attackers behind the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow were remanded in custody for two months by a court in the Russian capital on Sunday. The four men are accused of “terrorism” and face life imprisonment, the Basmanny court in Moscow said in a statement. Their pre-trial detention, set until May 22, may be extended pending their trial, the date of which has not yet been set. In total, Russian authorities reported the arrest of 11 people, including four attackers in connection with this attack. This appearance comes on the evening of a day of mourning in Russia.
The court played footage showing three suspects being brought into the courtroom handcuffed and doubled over by police officers, then seated in the glass cage reserved for the accused. The fourth arrived in a wheelchair, his eyes closed. One of the suspects had a white bandage on his ear, as in previous videos of the arrest of the alleged attackers released on Saturday by investigators, where three of them appeared with blood on their faces.
According to the court, two of the accused pleaded guilty. One of them, a native of Tajikistan, “fully admitted his guilt”. Authorities had previously said the suspects were “foreign citizens”, without mentioning their nationality. Tajikistan is a former Soviet republic in Central Asia with a Muslim majority. Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported that one of the suspects was a former employee of a hairdresser in Ivanovo, a town northeast of the capital. Another has an eight-month-old child and worked in a parquet factory in Podolsk, Moscow region.
“No Ukrainian involvement,” says Washington
The US government said on Sunday there was “no Ukrainian involvement” in the massacre at Crocus City Hall in Moscow, after Russian President Vladimir Putin cited a link to Ukraine. There is “no evidence” that Ukraine is involved in the massacre and “IS is responsible”, retorted US Vice President Kamala Harris during a television interview on Sunday.
“The Islamic State (IS) bears full responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement,” added Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the American National Security Council, in a statement. Washington responds to Vladimir Putin’s speech on Saturday who denounced a “barbaric terrorist” act and announced that “the four perpetrators” of the attack had been arrested “while they were heading towards Ukraine”, without mentioning the claim of the jihadist group Islamic State.
France raises the Vigipirate level to “emergency attack”
Gabriel Attal announced on Sunday evening that he was “raising” the Vigipirate plan in France to its highest “emergency attack” level, following the attack on Moscow claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State. “Given the claim of responsibility for the attack by the Islamic State and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency,” indicated the Prime Minister on the social network The Vigipirate plan was downgraded to level 2 (“reinforced security – risk of attack”) last January.
“The claim for the Moscow attack comes from the Islamic State in Khorasan. However, this organization threatens France and has been involved in several recent foiled attack plans in several European countries, including Germany and the France,” said Matignon. “The Prime Minister asked the Secretary General of Defense and National Security, under his authority, to convene first thing tomorrow (this Monday) a meeting bringing together all the security services impacted by the raising of the level Vigipirate,” adds this source.