Sunday, March 24, has been declared a day of national mourning in Russia for the victims of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. Vladimir Putin stated this in his address to citizens of the Russian Federation.
At the beginning of his speech, the President expressed gratitude to the ambulance and air ambulance crews, special forces soldiers, firefighters, rescuers who did everything to avoid even greater losses, and also noted ordinary citizens who, in the first minutes after the tragedy, provided first aid and transported victims to hospitals.
“We will provide the necessary assistance to all families whose lives have been affected by terrible misfortune, the wounded and injured. I express my deep, sincere condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones. The whole country, our whole people, mourns with you. I declare March 24 a day of national mourning,” Putin said.
At the same time, additional anti-terrorism and anti-sabotage measures are being introduced in all regions of the Russian Federation: “The main thing now is to prevent those who are behind this bloody massacre from committing a new crime.”
According to the latest data, 133 people became victims of the terrorist attack, and 41 dead have been identified. 127 victims were also registered.
"Barbaric terrorist attack"
According to the head of state, what happened is a “bloody, barbaric terrorist act” that was cynically planned and organized for the purpose of mass murder of civilians.
“The criminals cold-bloodedly and purposefully set out to kill, shoot at point-blank range our citizens, our children. Just like the Nazis once carried out massacres in the occupied territories, they planned to stage a show execution, a bloody act of intimidation,” the president noted.
Putin stressed that all the perpetrators, organizers and customers of this terrorist attack will suffer fair and inevitable punishment.
“Whoever they are, whoever guides them. I repeat: we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this blow to Russia, to our people,” he said, adding that Russia counts on cooperation with countries in the fight against a common enemy - international terrorism .
Also on russian.rt.com Video of the interrogation of a detainee after the terrorist attack in Crocus
According to him, terrorists, murderers, and nonhumans face one unenviable fate - retribution and oblivion; they have no future.
“Our common duty now, our comrades at the front, all citizens of the country is to be together in one formation. I believe it will be so, because no one and nothing can shake our unity and will, our determination and courage, the strength of the united people of Russia. No one will succeed in sowing poisonous seeds of discord, panic and discord in our multi-ethnic society. Russia has repeatedly gone through difficult, sometimes unbearable trials, but has become even stronger. This will be the case now,” said the Russian leader.
“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine”
Vladimir Putin also said that all four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall were found and detained.
“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,” the Russian president said, emphasizing that a total of 11 people were detained.
According to him, the FSB of Russia, together with other law enforcement agencies, is working to identify and uncover the entire accomplice base of terrorists: those who provided them with transport, outlined escape routes from the crime scene, prepared caches, caches of weapons and ammunition.
“I repeat: investigative and law enforcement agencies will do everything to establish all the details of the crime,” Putin stated.