Attack in Russia: automatic weapons, fire, IS claim… What we know about the bloody attack

Vladymyr Putin said that Sunday will be a day of national mourning after the announcement of the deaths of around a hundred people following the attack. the attack occurred on Friday March 22, near Moscow, Russia. Searches in the rubble and the investigation continue.

A hundred dead. President Vladimir Putin announced that Sunday will be a day of national mourning. The latest reports estimate that more than 130 people have died. From New York à Moscow, tributes multiply while the circumstances of the attack become clearer.

1. How to proceed facts

Investigators, who opened an investigation into a “terrorist act”, announced that the attackers "usedé a flammable liquid to set fire à the concert hall where There were spectators, specifying that they had seized "automatic weapons" used during this assault, reports Ouest-France.

According to a journalist present in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, located near Moscow, on Friday evening… e, the individuals shot at the crowd before throwing a "grenade" or an "firebomb", which caused a fire. Information confirmed by Russian press agencies.

2. Victims and toll

Searches in the rubble will continue for "several days", warns Governor Andreï Vorobiov, on Télégramme, relays the daily life. The toll is getting heavier around a hundred dead, 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 Committee investigation.

Russian diplomacy denounced a "bloody terrorist attack". Ouest-France explains that Russia has already été the target of numerous terrorist attacks in the past. In 1999, hundreds of Russians were killed. killed in two building explosions. 130 people had been 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. 

3. Authors and claims

Saturday March 23, the director of 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 çais . In a televised speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that the alleged attackers arrested this Saturday "are éforeign" citizens, relays BFMTV. 

The Islamic State (IS) group, which had already claimed the attack Friday evening, has just affirmed on Telegram, that four of its fighters carried out the attack. the attack using machine guns, a pistol, knives and incendiary bombs, before adding that the attack was part of ;quot;in the context […] of the raging war" between the group and “the countries fighting Islam", reports Ouest-France. 

The Afghan branch, the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) group, is the prime suspect for global terrorism experts, say ;vèle Le Parisien, recalling that the organization had strongly criticized the Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and its military interventions in Africa and Syria, explains the daily. Furthermore, the suicide attack against the Russian embassy in Afghanistan in 2022 and the fact that the group is working towards its expansion towards Russia, in particular with the creation of a Russian-language media, are all elements which could confirm this lead . 

4. Progress of the investigation

"Early this month, the US government had information about a planned terrorist attack &agrav; Moscow […]", declaredé Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the Security Council American national statement which adds that the United States had warned Russia, specifying that it could be targeted during & quot;large gatherings, including concerts", relays Ouest-France.

The suspects were arrested. arrested in a border region with Ukraine and planned to flee there, according to the FSB. kyiv denies any involvement of Ukraine in this attack. Interpol said that his services were ready to serve. help Russian investigators.

5. Rain of international reactions

​​​​​​Faced with the tragedy, and despite ideological differences, the reactions é international events have multiplied since Friday March 22. The White House addressed his thoughts to the victims of the attack. The European Union said, as for she, “shocked and dismayed”. One of its spokespersons, Peter Stano, published a message on the social network and that she addresses her "thoughts" &agrav; "All 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 injured and the Russian people. “All light must be shed on these odious acts,” he wrote.