More than a hundred people lost their lives during the attack on Friday March 22 near Moscow, Russia. This Saturday, March 23, the Kremlin announced the arrest of four alleged attackers. The toll continues to rise.
Shock wave in Russia. The day after the attack, from New York to Moscow, tributes multiplied while the circumstances of the attack became clearer. This Saturday, March 23, the investigators, who had announced to open an investigation for a “terrorist act”, announced that these “terrorists used an flammable liquid to set fire to the concert hall where there were spectators”, specifying that they had seized “automatic weapons” used during this assault, claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State”, reports West France.
According to a journalist present at the Crocus City Hall concert hall, located near Moscow, on Friday evening, the individuals fired at the crowd before throwing a “grenade” or “fire bomb”, which caused a fire . Information confirmed by Russian news agencies.
Washington had warned Moscow of a possible attack
“Earlier this month, the US government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow […]”, declared Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the American National Security Council, who added that the United States had warned Russia, specifying that it could target “large gatherings, including concerts” in Moscow, relays West France.
The director of the Russian security services (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov announced “the arrest of eleven people, including the four terrorists directly involved in the attack”, according to Russian press agencies, reports the French newspaper. They were arrested in a border region with Ukraine and planned to flee there, according to the FSB. Interpol said its services were ready to help Russian investigators.
A “bloody attack”
Searches in the rubble will continue for “several days”, warns Governor Andreï Vorobiov, on Télégramme, relays the daily. The death toll rose to around a hundred this Saturday, March 23. According to the first elements of the investigation, the causes of these deaths are “gunshot wounds” and inhalation of fire smoke, indicated the Investigative Committee.
Russian diplomacy denounced a “bloody terrorist attack”. West France explains that Russia has already been the target of numerous terrorist attacks in the past. In 1999, hundreds of Russians were killed in two building explosions. 130 people were killed three years later during a hostage-taking in a theater. The heavy toll of the Crocus City Hall attack places this attack among the deadliest in the country’s history.
International reaction rain
France strongly condemns the terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State in Moscow. Solidarity with the families of the victims, the injured and the Russian people.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 23, 2024
Faced with the tragedy, and despite ideological differences, international reactions multiplied from Friday March 22. The White House sent its thoughts to the victims of the attack. The European Union said it was “shocked and dismayed”. One of its spokespersons, Peter Stano, published a message on the social network Russian citizens affected. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reacted on social networks. “The images reaching us from Moscow are terrible. Our thoughts are with the victims and the injured and with the Russian people. Full light must be shed on these heinous acts,” he wrote.