Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning after pledging to punish all those behind the attack,in which 137 people were killed,including three children,and 182 were injured. More than 100 people remained in hospital on Monday (AEDT),some of them in a serious condition.
Earlier,people laid flowers at Crocus City Hall,the 6200-seat concert hall outside Moscow where just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hitAfraid of Nothing. The men fired their automatic weapons in short bursts at civilians who fell screaming.
,but Putin has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers,who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. He said that some on “the Ukrainian side” had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border.
Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda,a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting,with facial injuries and a large bandage on his ear.AP
Ukraine has denied any role in the attack.
Moscow’s Basmanny district court charged four suspects with acts of terrorism in connection with the attack,naming them as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev,Saidakrami Rachabalizoda,Shamsidin Fariduni,and Muhammadsobir Fayzov,according to Moscow courts’ official Telegram channel.
People lay flowers at a spontaneous memorial in St Petersburg on Sunday (local time).AP
It said the men,identified by Russian media as all being citizens of the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan living in Russia,would be remanded in pre-trial custody until May 22. Three of the four had pleaded guilty to all charges,it said.
After unverified and brutal videos of the suspects’ interrogations circulated on social media,courtroom images published by Russian media showed one suspect was brought in on a wheelchair apparently missing an eye;another had a bandage where his right ear should be;another had a black eye and a ripped plastic bag around his neck;and a fourth suspect with a swollen face seemed disoriented and struggling to keep his eyes open.
The attack was the deadliest on Russian territory since the 2004 Beslan school siege,when Islamist militants took more than 1000 people hostage. More than 300 people died at the time,more than half of them children.
Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would target those behind the deadly shooting wherever they were from and whoever they were.
Muhammadsobir Fayzov was brought into court in a wheelchair and reportedly missing an eye.AP
He had previously spoken of the need to meet “death with death” and some politicians have begun to discuss whether the death penalty should be re-introduced.
Across Moscow,billboards carried a picture of a single candle,the date of the attack and the words “We mourn”.
Countries around the world have expressed horror at the attack and sent their condolences to the Russian people.
France raises terror alert
The French government is raising its terror alert warning to its highest level after the attack,Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said after a meeting with senior security and defence officials with President Emmanuel Macron.
Suspected gunmen in Moscow attack shown being manhandled by Russian investigators.
Attal said in a post on X that the decision,which comes months before Paris hosts the Olympic Games,was taken “in light of the Islamic State’s claiming responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country”.
France’s terror alert system has three levels,and the highest level is activated after an attack in France or abroad or when a threat of one is considered to be imminent.
Shamsidin Faridunia appeared in court with a swollen jaw.AP
It allows for exceptional security measures such as stepped-up patrols by armed forces in public places like train stations,airports and religious sites.
Eleven detained
Putin said 11 people had been detained,including the four suspected gunmen,who fled the concert hall and made their way to the Bryansk region,about 340 kilometres south-west of Moscow.
“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.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border.
A dead person is carried out of the Crocus City Hall in Moscow following the weekend’s terrorist attack.AP
Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,something he called a special military operation needed to protect Russia and Russian-speakers in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame for the concert hall attack by referring to Ukraine.
US warned of attack
The White House said about a planned attack in Moscow,and issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on March 7. It said Islamic State bore sole responsibility for the attack.
“There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
Russian officials have bristled at the US public comments on the attack,the first of which were made shortly after news of the attack had broken,and say Russian investigators must be allowed to make their own findings.
Reuters
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