Shooting at Moscow concert venue leaves at least 60 dead

23 Mar 2024

CNN

3 min agoUK condemns Moscow terror attack “in the strongest terms”– UK Foreign Secretary

From CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Saturday said the United Kingdom condemned “in the strongest terms the deadly terrorist attack” in Moscow that took place on Friday night.

“We offer our heartfelt condolences and express our deepest sympathy to the families of the many victims,” Cameron wrote on X. “Nothing can ever justify such horrific violence,” he added.

12 min agoArena attack suspects detained trying to cross Ukrainian border, Russian Security Service says

From CNN's Anna Chernova, Darya Tarasova and Tim Lister

The four men suspected of carrying out the attack on the Crocus City complex near Moscow on Friday were arrested while trying to cross Russia's border with Ukraine, the Russian Investigative Committee has said.

“Special services and law enforcement agencies in the Bryansk region, near the border with Ukraine, detained four suspects from among those who committed a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall,” the Committee said.

According to state media RIA Novosti, "the weapons used by the terrorists were prepared in advance in a cache, the FSB [Security Service] reported.”

“After the terrorist attack, the criminals intended to cross the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine and had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side, the FSB said,” according to RIA.

State-owned Russian news agency TASS also reported that the assailants had “contacts on the Ukrainian side. The terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall was carefully planned.”

Neither agency specified the nature of the alleged contacts.

Ukraine has strenuously denied any connection with the attack. One official, Mykhailo Podolyak said in a post on X on Friday that Ukraine “has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods. It is always pointless.”

Earlier, unofficial sources had published images of a white Renault car - similar to that caught on video outside the hall on Friday - that had been stopped on a highway south of the city of Bryansk in the early hours of Saturday. The images showed it had been extensively damaged.

14 min agoDeath toll in Crocus City attack rises to 93, and is expected to rise further

From CNN's Darya Tarasova and Anna Chernova

Law enforcement officers carry out the body of a victim at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on Saturday. Olga Malseva/AFP/Getty Images

The death toll from the attack on the Crocus City complex has risen to 93, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.

“The death toll will rise further. According to preliminary data, the causes of death were gunshot wounds and poisoning by combustion products,” the committee said Saturday.

“Preliminary results of the inspection of the premises of the concert hall indicate that the terrorists used automatic weapons during the attack, which, along with the ammunition they left behind, were discovered and seized by (investigators).”

“Based on this material evidence, ballistic, genetic and fingerprint examinations are currently being carried out,” it added.

“It was also established that the terrorists used a flammable liquid to set fire to the premises of the concert hall.”

Earlier Saturday, the governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, said there were still 115 injured people, including five children, in hospitals in Moscow and Moscow Oblast.

The Investigative Committee said inspection of the concert hall was continuing. Emergency services were still clearing the rubble, CCTV footage was being studied and "work has begun with the victims.”

1 hr 5 min agoKremlin says 'all four terrorists directly involved' in Crocus attack have been detained

From CNN's Darya Tarasova

The head of the Russian Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, has told President Vladimir Putin that 11 people have been detained in connection with the attack on the Crocus complex near Moscow on Friday, according to Russian state media.

The Kremlin reported that those detained included “all four terrorists directly involved in the terrorist attack in Crocus,” according to TASS and other state media outlets.

1 hr 30 min agoUS had warned Russia ISIS was determined to attack

From CNN's Mary Kay Mallonee, Katherine Grise and Chris Lau

aw enforcement officers are seen deployed outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on Friday. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

The US warned Moscow that ISIS militants were determined to target Russia in the days before assailants stormed the Crocus City Hall in an attack that killed scores of people, but President Vladimir Putin rejected the advice as “provocative.”

Gunmen stormed the concert hall near Moscow on Friday, opening fire and throwing an incendiary device in the worst terrorist attack on the Russian capital in decades.

Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Experts said the scale of the carnage – some of which was captured in video footage obtained by CNN showing crowds of people cowering behind cushioned seats as gunshots echoed in the vast hall – would be deeply embarrassing for the Russian leader, who had championed a message of national security just a week earlier when winning the country’s stage-managed election.

Not only had Russian intelligence services failed to prevent the attack, they said, but Putin had failed to heed warnings from the United States that extremists were plotting to target Moscow.

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia had said it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,” including concerts, and it warned US citizens to avoid such places.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the US government had “shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding ‘duty to warn’ policy.”

But in a speech Tuesday, Putin had blasted the American warnings as “provocative,” saying “these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”

Read more: Putin rejected US warning as 'provocative'

1 hr 32 min agoPakistan condemns "horrendous attack" in Moscow

From CNN’s Sophia Saifi in Islamabad

Pakistan condemned the deadly attack at a concert hall in Moscow and expressed solidarity with Russia, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.

“We strongly condemn the horrendous attack carried out at a concert hall in Moscow. We express our deepest sympathies with the families of the victims. At this difficult hour, we stand in solidarity with the people and Government of the Russian Federation,” the statement said.

1 hr 32 min agoSaudi Arabia denounces "the terrorist attack" near Moscow

From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on Saturday denounced "the terrorist attack" that took place near Moscow, which killed at least 60 people, according to Saudi state-run SPA news.

MSB sent "a message of condolences and sympathy," to Russian President Vladimir Putin "for the victims of the terrorist attack," SPA said.

"I offer my deepest condolences and sincere sympathy to Your Excellency and your friendly people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery," the message said, as cited by SPA.

1 hr 32 min agoIndia’s Modi condemns Moscow attack, expresses solidarity with the Russian people

From CNN’s Vedika Sud and Teele Rebane

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the deadly attack at a concert hall in Moscow and expressed solidarity with the Russian people in a post on X on Saturday.

“We strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief,” he said.

1 hr 32 min agoUS has no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim of responsibility for Moscow attack

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand

The US has no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim of responsibility for the attack at the concert venue near Moscow Friday, according to a US official.