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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2024 21:53:43 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned and denounced the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. Posting to social media, the Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed “the Kingdom’s sincere condolences and sincere sympathy to the families of the deceased and the government and people of the Russian Federation” after the “painful incident”.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi has also strongly condemned the “heinous terrorist attack in Moscow”, tweeting the country “stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation”.
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2024 21:54:13 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2024 22:14:20 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Russian firefighters and officials have finally entered the auditorium within the Crocus Concert Hall, RIA News reports. Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of Moscow oblast, said that some pockets of fire still remain in Crocus but that most of the fire had been distinguished. The roof over the hall collapsed, Vorobyov noted, according to RIA News. It is believed that most of the casualties are inside where the fire and water has severely damaged the auditorium. RIA News has also shared a video to Telegram of the passage to Red Square in Moscow being blocked off.
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2024 22:14:54 GMT -5
Russian firefighters extinguish a fire on the Crocus City Hall concert venue after a terrorist attack in Krasnogorsk. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
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Post by Webster on Mar 23, 2024 0:42:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 10:09pm Summary--Gunmen opened fire at the 6,200-seat Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow on Friday evening at a concert for the Russian rock group Piknik. --Sixty people were killed, a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee said in the early hours of Saturday according to Russian media, and the number may rise. Earlier authorities had said at least 145 were wounded. Ria news agency quoted Moscow governor Andrey Vorobyov as saying 110 adults and five children had been hospitalised, with 60 adults in a serious condition. --Up to five gunmen were believed to be involved in the attack, which was later claimed by Islamic State in a post on Telegram which suggested that the attackers had managed to escape afterwards. Videos released by social media channels close to the security services showed at least two armed men walking into the hall. --The Russian national guard was searching for the attackers, Russian news agencies reported. The Investigative Committee said early Saturday it was too early to say anything about the fate of the attackers. --Videos emerged showing gunmen in tactical gear opening fire with automatic weapons as panicked Russians fled for their lives. One witness told the news agency AFP that as people ran towards emergency exits, “there was a terrible crush” with concert-goers climbing on one another’s heads to get out. --The emergencies ministry said that fire services had helped about 100 people escape through the basement of the concert hall. Tass news agency said that all of the Piknik group had been evacuated safely. Rescue operations were also launched for people trapped on the roof. --President Vladimir Putin was receiving “constant” updates, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies. --Earlier this month, western countries led by the United States had issued terror warnings and told their citizens not to join public gatherings in Russia. On 8 March, the US embassy wrote it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours”. --Russia did not immediately blame anyone for the attack. Former president Dmitry Medvedev did say, however, that Ukrainian leaders found to be involved would be “destroyed”. --US president Joe Biden called the attack “terrible” and said there was no immediate sign of any link to the conflict in Ukraine. Ukraine’s presidency said Kyiv had “nothing to do” with the attack, while its military intelligence called the incident a Russian “provocation” and charged that Moscow special services were behind it. --Russia tightened security at airports, transport hubs and across the capital – a vast urban area of over 21 million people. All large-scale public events have been cancelled across the country.
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Post by Webster on Mar 24, 2024 0:41:31 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 6:05pm Summary--US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson issued a statement on Saturday saying that the Islamic State bears sole responsibility for the deadly attack near Moscow on Friday and there was no Ukrainian involvement “whatsoever”. The US government a few weeks ago shared information with Russia about a planned attack in Moscow and issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on March 7, Watson added. --The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, used his nightly public address to condemn Russia for claiming that Ukraine had been involved in the attack and was seeking to help the attackers escape. Calling Russian president Vladimir Putin a “low-life”, Zelenskiy added: “What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious: Putin and the other scum are just trying to blame it on someone else … They always have the same methods.” --Russian television has aired footage of the detention and questioning of four men the authorities say are suspected of carrying out the deadly attack on a Moscow-area concert hall. Russia’s Channel One television showed footage of four suspects and their damaged white Renault car. It said they had been captured by special forces in the village of Khatsun in the western Bryansk region, which is close to borders with Ukraine and Belarus. --Neither Vladimir Putin, nor any of his government representatives, have responded to claims by the Islamic State religious terrorist group that they were responsible for the attack on a pop concert in the Moscow suburbs on Friday night. --Several security analysts have said that the claim of responsibility by the Islamic State for the massacre of Russian concertgoers appears to be plausible and fits with a pattern of previous marauding attacks by Islamist militants. --The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, currently in the Middle East, issued a statement on Saturday afternoon that the US condemns “terrorism in all its forms and stands in solidarity with the people of Russia in grieving the loss of life from this horrific event”. He called the attack “a heinous crime”. --The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group said on Saturday that four of its militants carried out an attack on a concert hall in a Moscow suburb that Russian authorities said had killed at least 133 people, and that they used firebombs among its weapons --The four suspected gunmen detained after the deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow are all foreign citizens, Russia’s interior ministry said. US intelligence gathered information just this month that ISPK, a branch of the Islamic State group based in Afghanistan, was eyeing Russia for a terrorist attack, the New York Times reported. --Putin told the Russian people that Ukraine is linked to the Crocus City Hall terror attack. In a video address lasting five-and-a-half minutes on Saturday, the newly re-elected Russian president said Russian security forces believed they had apprehended all four direct participants in the attack, who they said were caught heading for Ukraine, which they said was preparing to receive them over the border. Kyiv has rubbished the claims. --Putin described the attack as a “bloody, barbaric terrorist act”, and said the victims were “dozens of peaceful, innocent people – our compatriots, including children, teenagers and women”. He said the Russian Federation would “identify and punish everyone who prepared the terrorist attack”. --Ukraine has denied any link to the attack. Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said attempts to connect the two were “absolutely untenable”. He said: “Ukraine has not the slightest connection to this incident. Ukraine has a full-scale war with Russia and will solve the problem of Russia’s aggression on the battlefield.” Neither Putin nor the FSB publicly presented any proof of a link with Ukraine. --On Saturday morning, 107 people remained in hospital after the attack, including three children, one of whom is described as being in critical condition. After a drive to receive blood donations in Moscow, deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova said “there is enough medicine, blood and dressing materials”. --Putin has declared Sunday 24 March a day of national mourning. People have been laying flowers and toys as a tribute to the victims at the site of the attack, as well as outside Russian embassies all around the world. --Images from inside the venue show that the auditorium has been completely gutted by fire and the roof has collapsed. Russian authorities say people died both from gunshot wounds and the effects of the fire. --The terrorist attack has been widely condemned around the world. Notwithstanding tensions caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Britain’s foreign secretary David Cameron, European commission president Ursula von der Leyen and French president Emmanuel Macron have been among those condemning the attack and offering condolences. Putin spoke to the leaders of Belarus and Uzbekistan by phone. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also offered his support, saying terrorism is “the common enemy of humanity”.
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Post by Newsman on Mar 24, 2024 19:28:45 GMT -5
...continuing coverage of the Moscow terror attack... (Sky News) France raises terror threat level in light of Moscow attackFrance's prime minister has announced that following a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris this evening, France is raising its terror threat level in light of Friday's concert hall attack near Moscow. Gabriel Attal writes: "Following the attack in Moscow, the defence and security council was convened by the president at the Elysee Palace tonight. Taking into account the claims over the attack by Islamic State and the threat that faces our country, we have decided to increase our terror threat level to the highest possible - attack emergency." Concert hall attack suspects arrive at Moscow courtSuspects in the Russia concert hall attack have arrived at a Moscow district court. There was a heavy police presence around the court, which is expected to determine pretrial restrictions for the men. The Russian Investigative Committee suspect them of opening fire on crowds of concert goers at the capital's Crocus City Hall, killing at least 137 people. One of the suspects was led blindfolded into the courtroom, before it was removed and a black eye was visible.
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Post by Newsman on Mar 24, 2024 19:30:08 GMT -5
(Sky News) Court names two suspects, publishes photosMoscow's Basmanny district court has named two suspects in the Crocus City Hall attack: --Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev --Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda Russian state media outlet TASS is reporting they have been charged, without providing details. The suspects may face life in prison, reports another state news agency, RIA. The Basmanny court press service has released two photos of the suspects, without attributing their names. Two suspects charged and detained for two monthsA Moscow court has ordered two suspects in the Crocus City Hall concert attack be held in custody for two months pending trial. Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev, a Tajikistan citizen, "admitted his guilt in full" to shooting at Russian citizens at the venue and setting fire to the building, Moscow city courts published on Telegram. Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda also "admitted guilt" to a terror charge, according to a post on the Telegram channel which did not provide further details. The detention periods for both suspects will expire on 22 May, the channel added.
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Post by Newsman on Mar 24, 2024 19:32:28 GMT -5
(Sky News) Third concert attack suspect chargedA third suspect has been charged with terrorism at Basmanny district court in Moscow over the attack on Crocus City Hall, according to the capital's courts Telegram channel. The court remanded Shamsidin Fariduni in custody for two months, ending 22 May, after he pleaded guilty. Fourth suspect detained for two monthsA fourth suspect in the concert attack - Muhammadsobir Fayzov - has been charged with terrorism, according to a Moscow court's Telegram channel. Basmanny district court has ordered he and three other men be placed in custody for two months, until 22 May, pending trial.
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Post by Webster on Mar 24, 2024 19:39:33 GMT -5
(Sky News) Experts say Islamic State 'very likely' carried out concert attack - and reject false flag theoriesThe Islamic State is very likely responsible for the concert shooting, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said. Both the conduct of the attack and the style of the IS announcement were consistent with their previous attacks, said the US-based thinktank. Allegations that the attack was a false flag operation are inconsistent with the evidence, it added. The ISW also said it was "highly unlikely" IS conducted the attack under orders from Kyiv, appearing to refer to Russian claims that the perpetrators had links to Ukraine. "IS would not falsely claim an attack that may have been conducted by one Christian state against another (or by the Kremlin against Russia's own people in some sort of false-flag operation), because the implications of IS conducting an attack at the behest of a predominantly Christian country would damage IS credentials within the Salafi-Jihadi community." The ISW added that to falsely take responsibility for such a high profile attack would also risk undermining the purpose of IS propaganda - to "fundraise and disseminate its guidance to lower-level commanders and supporters". "The conduct of the attack itself is also consistent with previous IS attacks, including the 2015 Paris terror attacks," said the thinktank. "The Amaq News Agency announcement is consistent in terms of style, branding, and language with previous Amaq claims for other attacks," it added.
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Post by Webster on Mar 25, 2024 16:55:07 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 3:38pm Summary--Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said that the Moscow concert hall attack is “part of Kyiv regime’s attacks on Russia”. In remarks made Monday, Putin called the attack an “act of intimidation” and said that Russian officials are “interested in who benefits from it”. --Three more people were detained as a “preventive measure” in connection with the Moscow concert hall attack. The three men were detained after being accused of committing crimes under Russia’s Terrorist Act. --Some of the gunmen accused of carrying out the attack were briefly in Turkey to renew their Russian residence permits, Reuters reported, citing a Turkish security official. The Turkish official added that the men were not radicalized in Turkey. --The White House dismissed Russia’s claims that the attack is linked to Ukraine, calling the assertion “Kremlin propaganda”. On Monday, White House spokesperson John Kirby addressed the accusation, saying: “There was no linkage to Ukraine ... This is just more Kremlin propaganda.”
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Post by Webster on Mar 25, 2024 16:55:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The Moscow concert hall attack poses new questions for Russia’s intelligence agencies, Reuters reports. More from Reuters: Russia’s security state has been ruthlessly effective at detaining Vladimir Putin’s opponents but was caught off guard by a mass shooting near Moscow, raising questions about its priorities, resources and intelligence gathering.
Charged with hunting down Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia, with keeping anti-Kremlin activists in check, and with disrupting the operations of hostile foreign intelligence agencies, the FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, has its hands full.
That, say former US intelligence officials and Western security analysts, helps explain why it may have overlooked other threats, including that posed by Islamist militants, such as ISIS-K, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
“You can’t do everything,” Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agency’s Moscow station chief, told Reuters. “It’s possible they’re overextended dealing with the war in Ukraine and dealing with political opposition. This one slipped through the cracks.”
The FSB has said Friday’s concert hall attack was “painstakingly” planned and that the gunmen had carefully hidden their weapons.
Putin on Monday said that radical Islamists were the ones who had carried out the attack, but said that Russia still wanted to understand who had ordered it and said there were many questions for Ukraine to answer. Ukraine denies any involvement.
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