A shooting just at the beginning of a concert last night caused panic in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, located in Krasnogorsk, a city on the outskirts of Moscow, northwest of the Russian capital. The shots first caused a stampede and the evacuation of thousands of people. Then a hellish fire that left dozens of people trapped in the exclusive shopping center. According to data from the Investigative Committee (CI) of the Russian Federation, collected by the Tass agency, the terrorist attack caused at least 60 deaths and more than a hundred injured. Hours later, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the action through its Telegram channel.
The Government of Ukraine had already taken care of disassociating itself from the events. “Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with the shooting or the explosions. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said the advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency Office, Mijailo Podoliak, on the social network X.
“All the attendees were in their place” waiting for the performance of the (rock) group Piknik to begin,” explained a witness, Svetlana, to the RBK media. “I was in the lobby, I heard the shots of automatic weapons and a crowd then ran through the service entrance without warm clothes, a stampede had begun. In the street I heard the shots again. Now, the police are in the Crocus, the firefighters are fighting with a large column of smoke,” the woman added.
The Telegram channels stated that up to 6,200 people could be in the concert hall, since all the tickets had been sold.
As a result of the attack, a fire broke out in the Crocus City complex, where the concert hall is located. Video posted by several Russian agencies showed clouds of smoke and flames billowing from the building. According to Tass, people who were trapped remained in that area surrounded by flames. Special units of the Russian National Guard, police and firefighters began urgent work at the scene, Tass said. Fire services even used a helicopter to try to contain the flames.
Several witnesses cited by the Telegram channel Baza confirmed the previous testimony and stated that they saw a man open fire with a machine gun.
In addition, videos broadcast by the Telegram channel Mash showed several individuals dressed in camouflage clothing and masked.
According to the Rossiya24 television channel, the attackers also used grenades. A journalist from the RIA Nóvosti news agency reported that there were at least three shooters. “At least three broke into the stalls of Crocus City Hall and opened fire with automatic weapons. There are surely injuries,” he explained.
The Rossiya24 news assumed that it was a well-organized attack. One of the witnesses told the channel Care, News that “they were shooting from all sides.”
“We had just sat on the lower floor, then we heard gunshots and started moving down, we realized they were shooting. We lay down on the ground, but then we realized that all the people were climbing up to get out on top. They were shooting from all sides. We saw people running down the escalators and we ran after them. “We saw a girl right there, murdered,” the witness said.
While the Special Rapid Response Squadron (SOBR), integrated into the National Guard, and the Riot Police (OMON) began to assault the building to confront the attackers, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that this weekend there are still All events that involve the concentration of large numbers of people have been cancelled, including sporting and cultural events.
“I have made the decision to suspend all massive sporting, cultural and other activities this weekend in Moscow,” the councilor wrote on Telegram.
“Today at (…) Crocus City Hall a terrible tragedy occurred. My condolences to the families of the dead,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. And he asked Muscovites for understanding for the suspension of activities.
The civil aviation agency assured, for its part, that security measures had been tightened at the capital’s airports.
The rescue teams were able to act and rescue nearly a hundred people who had taken refuge in the basement of the building. To escape the danger, they had to be taken out through the roof.
Moscow has not suffered a terrorist act of this magnitude since 2011, when a bomb attack left 37 dead and 172 injured at Domodedovo international airport.
Knowing the current enmity between Russia and Western countries, after the terrorist attack in the exclusive shopping center of Krasnogorsk, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to condemn the attack.
“The entire international community is obliged to condemn this horrible crime,” said ministry spokesperson Maria Zajárova on her Telegram channel. The diplomat highlighted that Russia has received numerous calls with firm condemnations of the “bloody attack” that has occurred “before the eyes of all humanity.”
Ukraine, for its part, took the opportunity to reproach its current enemy for past actions. “Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with the shooting or the explosions at Crocus City Hall. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said the advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency Office, Mijailo Podoliak, on the social network X.
And he added that “Ukraine has never resorted to terrorist methods” to combat Russia. He stated, on the other hand, that it has been “Russia itself” that on other occasions “has attacked its own citizens to initiate anti-terrorist actions against protesting ethnic groups.”
Going further was the Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), which attributed the terrorist attack to an “operation planned by the Kremlin’s special services,” with the aim of “discrediting Ukraine and the entire free world,” according to its spokesman, Andri. Yúsov, cited by the state agency Unián.
The United States, an ally of Kyiv, was also quick to indicate that “there is no indication that Ukraine or Ukrainian citizens are involved,” according to statements by one of the White House spokespersons, John Kirby.
