Enlarge image
Crocus City Hall crime scene near Moscow
Photo:
AFP
Russia has apparently arrested at least eleven people involved in the terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow. Accordingly, the domestic secret service FSB informed Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, Russian media report. It is said that among the eleven detainees are all four terrorists who were involved in the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall. The death toll from the attack had risen to 133 as of Saturday afternoon.
It is said that other people involved in the crime will be identified. Duma deputy Alexander Chinschteijn had previously announced on Telegram that two suspects had been arrested. Accordingly, Russian authorities in the Bryansk region stopped a car with four occupants after a chase. Russian media reported an exchange of fire and that the car rolled over before coming to a stop.
Escape into the forest
Initially, police officers were able to arrest one of the people in the vehicle, and the others could have fled into a forest, writes Chinschteijn, who is also chairman of the Duma's Information Policy Committee. A second suspect was arrested a short time later. A handgun, a magazine for an AKM assault rifle and passports of citizens of Tajikistan were found in the stopped Renault.
Enlarge image
Suspected getaway car stopped in Bryansk region
Photo: Ostorozhno Novosti / REUTERS
Russian media shows a photo of a detained suspect, said to be a 19-year-old from the Tajik capital Dushanbe. He was injured during the arrest and is being treated in hospital.
In the suspected terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow, gunmen in camouflage clothing opened fire on concert-goers with automatic weapons (read the minutes of the events here). It is the most serious attack in Moscow in at least a decade.
Authorities report 133 deaths
The death toll has now been revised upwards to 133, Russian authorities announced on Saturday afternoon. It is said that three children were among the dead. The people were killed both by gunfire and by inhaling smoke after a fire broke out in the concert hall. There had previously been talk of 145 injuries.
The terrorist organization “Islamic State” claimed responsibility for the attack. Experts believe the IS terrorist militia's letter of responsibility is genuine and warn against fake news circulating on Russian Telegram channels that seek to establish a connection to Ukraine. According to a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry did not want to rule out possible Ukrainian involvement.
Russia is trying to establish a connection between the perpetrators and Ukraine
Russian media noted that the location of the suspects' arrest was near the Ukrainian border. According to the Russian news agency Tass, the Russian domestic secret service FSB also reports that the attackers had “contacts” in Ukraine. The FSB's information cannot be independently verified.
Linking the alleged terrorist attack to the war in Ukraine would benefit Russian propaganda, which has sought to portray democratic Ukraine as a rogue state since Russia's attack more than two years ago. Kiev has denied any involvement in the attack.
Western embassies had recently warned of terrorist attacks in Moscow. The Kremlin described this as a provocation by the West.
mgo/mkl/dpa/Reuters