MOSCOW — A number of attackers entered a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and shot at the crowd, resulting in the deaths of at least 40 people, injuries to over 100, and a fire at the venue. This happened shortly after President Vladimir Putin secured his power in a highly organized electoral victory.
The Islamic State group claimed they were responsible for the assault in a message posted on related social media channels, but this could not be confirmed. It's not clear what happened to the attackers after the assault, which is being investigated as terrorism by state authorities.
This attack, which caused the concert hall to catch fire and the roof to collapse, is the deadliest in Russia in years. It occurred as the country's conflict in Ukraine continued into its third year. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the assault as a “major tragedy.”
The Kremlin stated that Putin was informed shortly after the attackers entered Crocus City Hall, a large music venue on the western edge of Moscow that can hold 6,200 people.
The assault occurred during a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic. As indicated by Russia’s Federal Security Service, there were 40 fatalities and over 100 injuries, and some reports suggest that more people could have been trapped by the ensuing fire caused by the attackers throwing explosives. Health authorities released a list of 145 injured individuals, with 115 of them hospitalized, including five children.
Video footage depicted the building ablaze, with a large cloud of smoke rising into the night sky. The street was illuminated by the flashing blue lights of numerous firetrucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles, along with fire helicopters flying overhead to douse the fire with water, a process that took several hours.
According to the prosecutor’s office, several men in military uniforms entered the concert hall and opened fire on concertgoers.
Multiple rounds of gunfire were audible in videos shared by Russian media and on Telegram channels. One video showed two men carrying rifles moving through the venue. Another featured an individual in the auditorium reporting that the assailants had set it on fire, while gunshots could be heard continuously in the background.
Other videos showcased up to four attackers, armed with assault rifles and wearing caps, shooting at people at close range while they screamed.
Reports from Russian media indicated that the guards at the concert hall did not have firearms and some may have been killed at the beginning of the attack. Some news outlets suggested that the attackers fled before special forces and riot police arrived. There were reports of police patrols searching for several vehicles that the attackers may have used to escape.
In a statement issued by its Aamaq news agency, the Islamic State group claimed to have targeted a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of Moscow, resulting in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of people. The authenticity of this claim could not be immediately verified.
Observing how the IS statement framed their claim as an attack against Christians, Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, an expert on the terrorist group, noted that it seems to align with the group’s strategy of “attacking wherever possible as part of a global effort to combat non-believers and apostates.”
Russia’s main security agency announced that it stopped a planned attack on a synagogue in Moscow by a group linked to Islamic State, killing some members in the Kaluga region near the Russian capital. A few days earlier, authorities in Russia said they killed six alleged IS members in a shootout in Ingushetia, in the Caucasus region.
It was unclear why the group, which mainly operates in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa, would carry out an attack in Russia at this time. Over the years, the extremist group recruited fighters from the former Soviet Union to battle for them in Syria and Iraq, and has claimed responsibility for several past attacks in the Caucasus and other Russian regions.
As the fire burned, messages of anger, surprise, and support for those affected poured in from around the world.
Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who constantly monitor and pressure Kremlin critics, did not identify the threat and prevent the attack.
Russian officials said security has been increased at Moscow’s airports, railway stations, and the capital’s extensive subway system. Moscow’s mayor canceled all large gatherings, and theaters and museums closed for the weekend. Other Russian regions also heightened security.
The Kremlin did not immediately assign blame for the attack, but some Russian lawmakers were quick to accuse Ukraine and called for escalating strikes. A few hours before the attack, the Russian military launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s power system, which resulted in the disabling of the country’s largest hydroelectric plant and other energy facilities, leaving over a million people without electricity.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, stated that if Ukraine's involvement in the attack is proven, all those responsible “must be tracked down and killed without mercy, including officials of the state that committed such outrage.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied any involvement by Ukraine.
“Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods,” he posted on X. “Everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield.”
John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, mentioned that he couldn’t yet speak about the details but “the images are just horrible. And just hard to watch.”
Kirby said, “Our thoughts are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack.”
Following a statement earlier this month by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow urging Americans to avoid crowded places in the Russian capital due to “imminent” plans by extremists to target large gatherings, including concerts, the attack took place. The warning, issued hours after Russia’s main security agency announced it had disrupted a cell of the Islamic State group planning an attack on a synagogue, was also repeated by several other Western embassies.
When asked about the embassy’s notice on March 7, Kirby referred the question to the State Department, adding: “I don’t think that was related to this specific attack.”
In response to a question about whether Washington had any prior information about the assault, Kirby said: “I’m not aware of any advance knowledge that we had of this terrible attack.”
Putin, who secured another six years as Russia's president in this week’s vote, condemned Western warnings as an effort to intimidate Russians. He called it a form of blackmail and an attempt to scare and destabilize Russian society.
Russia experienced a series of deadly terror attacks in the early 2000s during the conflict with separatists in Chechnya.
In October 2002, Chechen rebels took approximately 800 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Two days later, Russian special forces stormed the building, resulting in the deaths of 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters, most due to the effects of narcotic gas used by Russian forces to subdue the attackers.
And in September 2004, around 30 Chechen militants seized a school in Beslan in southern Russia, taking hundreds of hostages. The siege ended in a massacre two days later, leaving over 330 people dead, including about half of them being children.