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Russia Says 133 Killed in Fiery Attack on Concert Hall Near Moscow
While the attack comes over two years into Russia's war on Ukraine, an adviser for the Ukrainian president said the neighboring nation "certainly has nothing to do with the shooting/explosions in the Crocus City Hall."
Mar 22, 2024
UPDATE:
Russia's Investigative Committee announced Saturday that the death toll has increased to 133 and said in a statement that "unfortunately, the number of victims could increase."
Eleven people were detained, including four who were directly involved in the attack, according to a statement from the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB.
EARLIER:
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in which at least dozens of people were killed and wounded when individuals reportedly armed with automatic weapons opened fire at Crocus City Hall, a concert venue in suburban Moscow, Russia.
"According to preliminary data, as a result of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall building 40 people were killed and over 100 were injured," Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement reported by TASS.
Citing eyewitnesses, the Russian news agency reported that the group of unidentified men "armed with assault rifles went on a shooting spree in the lobby and then inside the concert hall just before a concert by the rock band Picnic."
As The Moscow Times detailed:
According to a journalist who was at Crocus City Hall during the attack, a grenade or an incendiary bomb was thrown after the shooting broke out and caused a fire.
"People in the hall were lying down on the floor to escape from the shooting, lying between 15 and 20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out," the unnamed journalist was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
The attack comes on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin's contested reelection and over two years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has received weapons support from around the world, including the United States.
In a lengthy social media post, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that "Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with the shooting/explosions in the Crocus City Hall."
"There is not the slightest doubt that the events in the Moscow suburbs will contribute to a sharp increase in military propaganda, accelerated militarization, expanded mobilization, and, ultimately, the scaling up of the war," Podolyak added. "And also to justify manifest genocidal strikes against the civilian population of Ukraine."
According to The Guardian, John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters that "there's no indication at this time that Ukraine, or Ukrainians were involved in the shooting... We're taking a look at it, but I would disabuse you at this early hour of any connection to Ukraine."
Asked whether the attack signals cracks in Putin's regime, Kirby said that "there are people in Moscow and in Russia that object to the way Mr. Putin is governing the country, but I don't think we, at this early hour, can make a link between the shopping mall attack and political motivations. I think... we just need more time and we need to learn more information."
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Mercenary Forces' Takeover of Russian City Signals Turmoil for Putin, Ukraine Says
"Russia's weakness is obvious," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as events unfolded in Russia. "And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later."
Jun 24, 2023
(Update: 9:00 am, Sunday, June 25)
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin left Rostov-on-Don, Russia late Saturday after announcing abruptly that he had called off his forces' march to Moscow and ordered them to leave the southern city, a key strategic location in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Prigozhin agreed to leave Russia go to Belarus under a deal reportedly brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whose government is strongly allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Belarus has allowed Russian troops to station there since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Putin said earlier this month that Russia has begun deploying "tactical" nuclear weapons in the former Soviet state.
Under the deal, Prigozhin and his forces will not face charges for taking over military facilities in Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, which Putin had said amounted to treason.
Earlier:
Ukrainian officials on Saturday said the takeover of a key strategic Russian city by the Wagner Group, a private mercenary force with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was a sign of a burgeoning civil war in the country that invaded Ukraine 16 months ago.
The group's seizure of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia was a sign of Putin's "weakness," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as many in his country kept a close watch on the chaos unfolding in the country whose invasion has killed more than 9,000 civilians, injured more than 15,000, and forced more than six million people to flee Ukraine.
"Anyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself," said Zelenskyy on social media. "Sends columns of soldiers to destroy the lives of another country—and cannot stop them from fleeing and betraying when life resists... [Putin] despises people and throws hundreds of thousands into the war—in order to eventually barricade himself in the Moscow region from those whom he himself armed."
"Russia's weakness is obvious," Zelenskyy added. "Full-scale weakness. And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later."
The Wagner Group is headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a member of the Russian elite who in the past secured lucrative construction and catering contracts from the government, the latter of which earned him the nickname "Putin's chef." He was one of 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States in 2018 for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Prigozhin's mercenary army first began exerting influence during Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and has since been deployed to further Russian interests in countries including Syria, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan, and Mozambique.
"Today we are actually witnessing the beginning of a civil war."
"There's a trend or pattern around what happens when Wagner is involved in an armed conflict," Sorcha MacLeod, chair of the United Nations Working Group on mercenary groups, told The New York Times last year. "The conflict is prolonged, involves heavy weaponry, civilians are impacted in a substantial way, human rights violations and war crimes increase substantially, and there's no access to justice for victims."
Prigozhin has in recent months rebuked the military leadership of Putin's war on Ukraine, saying generals have not provided his forces with enough resources.
On Friday he accused Putin's military of attacking his fighters' encampments and called the Ukraine invasion a "racket" before announcing that the Wagner Group had taken control of Rostov-on-Don.
The Times verified footage showing Prigozhin entering a military complex in the city.
The mercenary group was headed toward Moscow on Saturday as Russian officials accused Prigozhin of attempting to mount a coup against Putin. The state news agency, TASS, reported that the Russian prosecutor general had charged Prigozhin with armed mutiny.
Putin accused Prigozhin of treason in an address to Russians and said he "will do everything to defend the country."
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said the turmoil between Putin and the Wagner Group signifies that "the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive finally destabilized the Russian elites, intensifying the internal split that arose after the defeat in Ukraine."
"Today we are actually witnessing the beginning of a civil war," he said.
The Wagner Group's actions are "a sign of the collapse of the ruling regime," Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Suspilne, Ukraine's state news agency, "and such processes will intensify."
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Moscow Alleges Putin Assassination Attempt as Ukrainian Drones Reportedly Hit Kremlin
A top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied Moscow's allegation, calling it a false pretext for "a large-scale terrorist attack."
May 03, 2023
This is a developing story... Check back for possible updates...
Moscow on Wednesday accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin after two unmanned Ukrainian drones reportedly struck the Kremlin.
In a statement, Russia's presidential press service said that "timely actions taken by military and special services" disabled the drones.
"Their fall and the fragments scattered around on the territory of the Kremlin caused no casualties or material damage," said the press service, which noted that "the Russian president was not harmed."
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces said in response to the Russian government's claims that "we do not have such information" and called Moscow's comments "political statements."
Video footage posted online showed smoke emerging from the Kremlin after an object exploded over the complex:
\u201cRussia says Ukraine tried to assassinate Vladimir Putin overnight in a drone attack on the Kremlin. Putin was unharmed and is working as normal.\n\nIt's not clear when or whether this happened, but Telegram channels are posting what looks like anti-aircraft fire over the Kremlin.\u201d— max seddon (@max seddon) 1683114651
\u201cIncredible footage of what Russia says was Ukraine's attempt to kill Putin in a drone strike last night\u201d— max seddon (@max seddon) 1683114651
The alleged attack could spur another deadly escalation of a war that has dragged on for more than a year with no end in sight, as substantive diplomatic negotiations remain nonexistent and heavy weaponry continues to flow into the war zone.
"Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures whenever and wherever it sees fit," the Russian presidential press service said Wednesday after the alleged attack, which Moscow called "a pre-planned act of terrorism and an attempt on the life of the Russian president."
Mykhailo Podolyak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responded on Twitter that Ukraine is waging "an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation."
"Russia is clearly preparing a large-scale terrorist attack," Podolyak added, arguing that claims of an assassination attempt against Putin give Moscow "grounds to justify its attacks on civilians."
On Monday, Russia launched a missile attack in Ukraine that reportedly killed two people and wounded 40.
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