The preliminary assessment looks heavy: the Russian intelligence service already reports at least forty deaths and more than a hundred injuries. The chaos in the Russian capital was incalculable on Friday evening. Around 8:30 PM local time (6:30 PM in Belgium) the first reports came in of a shooting in the Krokusstadshal, a popular concert hall located in a shopping center on the outskirts of Moscow. Just before the start of a concert by the Russian rock band Piknik, several gunmen opened fire on the gathered crowd.
“At least three people in camouflage clothing stormed the ground floor of the Krokusstadshal and opened fire with automatic weapons.”
Correspondent RIA Novosti
“At least three people wearing camouflage clothing stormed into the ground floor of the Krokusstadshal and opened fire with automatic weapons,” a correspondent from RIA Novosti reported. Other sources speak of four perpetrators. “The people who were in the hall lay down on the ground to escape the shots, lay there for 15-20 minutes, after which they started crawling out. Many managed to get out.” According to RIA, the fire started when one of the attackers threw a grenade or incendiary bomb.
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Some hallucinatory video footage circulating on Russian social media channels shows two men cornering some terrified concertgoers and shooting them at close range with their automatic weapon. Other images show the chaos from outside the building. As flames burst through the windows, dozens of people run screaming from the building. Several explosions were also heard after the attack.
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The gunmen caused panic for hours. — © REUTERS
A fire-fighting helicopter, seventy ambulances and a column of rescue services arrived to calm the situation. About 100 people were said to have been freed from the basement of the building by them, but the chaos continued until several hours after the attack. Russian media warned, among other things, that the roof of the concert hall is about to collapse. In the meantime, nothing is known about the perpetrators.
Ukraine denies involvement
The attack is reminiscent of the blind terror that Chechen separatists committed at the beginning of this century in the school in Beslam and a theater in Moscow. The Russian authorities are now again talking about a terrorist attack, but it is not yet clear who is behind this. “If it is determined that they are terrorists of the Kiev regime (…) they must all be found and destroyed without mercy as terrorists,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
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A devastating fire also broke out in the concert hall. — © REUTERS
However, Ukrainian President Zelensky announced on Friday evening through his adviser Mikhaylo Podoljak that he “had nothing to do” with the shooting. “Ukraine has never used terrorist methods of war,” it said. According to Washington, there are currently no indications that Ukraine is involved in the attack. The Freedom From Russia Legion, a legion in the Ukrainian armed forces that mainly consists of Russian fighters, also denied any involvement on Friday.
Warned
It is remarkable that the gunmen were able to enter the building in camouflage clothing and with heavy weapons. Security measures in Moscow have been on high alert for months. More than two weeks ago, the American embassy warned its residents in Russia that a major attack was imminent in Moscow. That information was also shared with the Kremlin. At that time, the security services in Russia had just eliminated an IS cell that wanted to commit a terrorist act. According to Ukrainian milbloggers, it was a false flag operation set up to justify a new wave of mobilization. It is unclear what the Russian authorities did with the information that the US discreetly forwarded.
Security measures at airports and train stations in and around Moscow have now been tightened. Other major events planned for this weekend in the Russian capital have also been cancelled.
© REUTERS
© REUTERS
