In this photo taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on March 23, 2024, firefighters work in the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)
Eleven Suspects Captured After Moscow-Area Terror Attack Kills 133
Russia has detained 11 people in connection with a terrorist attack Friday evening at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech that among the 11 were all four gunman suspected of carrying out what Reuters called a “shooting massacre.”
“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” Putin said.
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Neither Putin nor Russia’s FSB security service has provided any evidence to the public of a link between the accused terrorists and Ukraine, which Russian invaded just over two years ago.
Putin promised to punish those responsible for the attack.
“All the perpetrators, organisers and those who ordered this crime will be justly and inevitably punished. Whoever they are, whoever is guiding them,” Putin said, according to Reuters. “We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this strike against Russia, against our people.”
Though the FSB also said that the suspects had “contacts in Ukraine,” Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told Reuters that that was “of course another lie from the Russian special services.”
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“Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack. Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers’ army and military targets, not civilians,” he said.
Another unnamed Ukrainian official called the accusation of Ukrainian involvement “absurd,” the BBC reported.
Will Russia retaliate for this attack?
Yes: 97% (711 Votes)
No: 3% (19 Votes)
“According to an unverified statement online, militant group Islamic State said it was behind the attack,” the outlet reported.
“The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the shooting, a U.S. official said,” according to Reuters. “The official, speaking on condition of anonymity said Washington had warned Moscow ‘appropriately’ in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.”
On Saturday, the Islamic State released a photograph of four men it claimed were the four gunmen.
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Russia’s state Investigative Committee said that 133 people were killed in the attack, but the city’s governor said that number was expected to “rise significantly” as emergency crews continue to sift through the charred remains of the concert hall, the roof of which was engulfed in a fire as the shooting occurred.
Investigators said the shooters carried cans of gasoline into the venue in rucksacks and used it to start the blaze.
It was not yet known how many victims had been shot and how many died in the first, but one outlet reported that among the dead, “Many mothers were found embracing their children.”
“Russian authorities said at least 145 people had been injured, with 16 people in a ‘critical state,'” The Guardian reported.
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Putin has declared Sunday a day of mourning for the victims of the attack.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of "WJ Live," powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English as well as a Master's in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
