Marta SerafiniCORRIERE DELLA SERA / EL MUNDO

CORRIERE DELLA SERA / THE WORLD

Updated Monday, March 25, 2024-11:11

They were dragged before the court first blindfolded and then uncovered, with swelling marks on their faces and ears, one of them even in a wheelchair. This is how the four suspects of the attack appeared before the Moscow court after passing through the "investigation committee" of the central district. For Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda and Dalerdjon Barotovich Mirzoyev Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov - the names disclosed by Tass -

preventive detention was ordered until May.

Three of them pleaded guilty. His confession occurred after videos circulated all day yesterday on social media showing the torture inflicted on the detainees - 11 in total - one of them with electrodes and another in which

a soldier was seen cutting his head. ear with a knife and then put it in his mouth

.

The Kremlin declined this morning to respond to questions related to the detainees' injuries upon arrival at the court.

Another of the accused in a wheelchair.SERGEI ILNITSKYEFE

Moscow's propaganda, after pointing the accusatory finger at Kiev, completely changes its tone just a few hours after the speech of President Putin, who does not even mention the jihadist threat, but suggests that there are connections between terrorists and Ukraine.

To try to rewind the tape, we have to start from Saturday night: after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the communication channel of the jihadist organization Amaq published a 1 minute and 31 second video with camera images body of the attackers.

They are raw images that capture the group in action

. Those who film invoke Allah and attack the infidels. The attackers are seen firing several shots from Ak-47s, numerous inert bodies on the ground and, in the background, a fire beginning, with one of them stabbing a knife into the neck of a victim lying on the ground, already wounded.

ISIS affiliates filmed themselves during the attacks. Your goal is to use these images both as evidence of your participation and to attract new recruits. The question arises: when was the video sent? Who received it and posted it online? The first question concerns the identities of the attackers, reported as Tajiks.

President Putin spoke by phone yesterday with Tajik President

Emomali Rahmon, and the Kremlin has stated that "security services and agencies in Moscow and Dushanbe are working closely together to combat terrorism, and this cooperation will intensify." According to AFP, one of those who appeared in court, Mirzoyev, is a Tajik national.

In addition to the names, footage of "interrogations" circulating online in which the detainees appear to coincide with the men in the photo broadcast on Isis social channels immediately after the attack. Some of them appear terrified, handcuffed or immobilized as they explain why they committed the attacks.

They say they acted after being recruited on Telegram and under the promise of a payment of 5,000 euros.

One of them says he received a first payment on his credit card, but destroyed all documents, including the card. Another claims to have thrown the weapons from the car while fleeing.


Another unknown is the preparation of the attack. According to Russian media,

one of them visited the Crocus on March 7

. This was confirmed by a photographer who worked that day in the shopping center to capture the visitors. But is it possible that four inexperienced and untrained men managed to carry out such an action? Novaya Gazeta Europe notes that the 300 terrorist attacks that the FSB claims to have thwarted in the North Caucasus in the last ten years are equivalent to almost all of the 2022-2023 counterterrorism activities on the Ukrainian front.

While the victims are still being counted, propaganda continues its course and points fingers according to its convenience. It's hard not to speculate that we'll never get definitive answers. Or that the victims' relatives will never have them.