Killing in Russia. Dozens of people were killed and more than a hundred injured on the afternoon of Friday, March 22, in an attack by armed men at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, Russian security forces reported.
• At least 40 dead and more than 100 injured
The attack by several armed individuals took place on the afternoon of Friday, March 22, at Crocus City Hall, a concert hall located in Krasnogorsk, a suburb on the northwestern outskirts of the Russian capital. The emergency services, cited by the Interfax agency, reported a “group of two to five unidentified people, dressed in tactical uniforms and armed with automatic weapons,” who “opened fire on security agents at the entrance to the room.” concerts” and then “they started shooting at the audience.
The FSB announced that the preliminary toll of the attack “is currently 40 dead and more than 100 wounded.”
Police say they are “searching” for the attackers. The attack occurred during a concert by the Russian rock band Piknik, whose members were evacuated, the TASS news agency reported.
• The burning building and the collapsed roof
According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters managed to evacuate about a hundred people who were in the basement of the concert hall. Operations are underway to “rescue people from the roof of the building using lifting equipment.”
According to TASS, about a third of the building is on fire. Videos posted on social media show the roof of the building in flames, large plumes of black smoke escaping into the sky.
• An investigation is opened for a “terrorist act”
Russian investigators have opened “a criminal case for a terrorist act in the Moscow region,” this body responsible for the main criminal investigations in the country reported on Telegram. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the cancellation of all public events.
Recently re-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin is being briefed in real time about the attack, according to a Kremlin spokeswoman. The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, denounced a “bloody terrorist attack” and a “monstrous crime.”
• Kyiv denies being behind the attack.
The Russian Freedom Legion, a group of Russian anti-Kremlin fighters based in Ukraine, denied any involvement in the deadly armed attack and emphasized that it “does not fight against Russian civilians.”
For its part, kyiv, through an advisor to the Ukrainian presidency, claimed to have “absolutely nothing to do” with the shooting, calling it a “terrorist act.”
A White House spokesperson, “reflecting with the victims of the terrible attack,” also clarified that the United States “does not have any indication at this time that Ukraine or Ukrainians were involved.”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed that Russia will kill Ukrainian leaders if they are linked to the attack.
Source: BFM TV
