Putin claims all Moscow terror suspects arrested after trying to flee to Ukraine, with 133 victims shot dead
23 March 2024, 12:47 | Updated: 23 March 2024, 14:24
Vladimir Putin says that all suspects in the Moscow terror attack that killed at least 133 have been arrested after trying to flee to Ukraine.
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The attack came when three gunmen dressed in camouflage burst into the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk on the edge of Moscow on Friday evening, spraying visitors with automatic gunfire.
As well as the 115 victims, over 100 were wounded and admitted to hospital in the attack, which the Russian president called an act of "bloody and barbaric" terror.
Eleven people have arrested for the terror attack. Four of the 11 were "directly involved" in the attack, for which ISIS has claimed responsibility. Seven were accomplices, Putin said.
Ukraine has vehemently denied any link to the attack, but Putin said in his address that they were trying to cross the border into the country.
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He said: "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."
Putin expressed his condolences for the families of the victims, and declared a day of mourning.
"Terrorists, killers can expect only one thing, they can expect punishment," he said.
The attackers also set the building on fire, with part of the roof near the theatre collapsing. The fire is thought to have been extinguished by Saturday morning.
Russian MP Alexander Khinshtein said that two suspects had been arrested about 235 miles south-west of Moscow after failing to stop the Renault they were driving when asked by police in a village in the Bryansk region.
He said that shots had been fired and one of the suspects was arrested, and others hid in the woods. Security services searched for them and found one at about 3.50 in the morning, he claimed. The hunt is ongoing for the others.
Mr Khinshtein also claimed that a pistol, ammunition for an assault rifle and Tajikistan passports were found in the car.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the terror attack on its Telegram channel on Friday evening.
Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev and ally of Vladimir Putin said in a statement on Telegram that those responsible must be “found and ruthlessly destroyed”. Putin himself has not commented publicly.
Interpol has offered to help with the investigation, adding: "Our thoughts are with the victims, and their families and friends."
Meanwhile Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack, and officials said they were worried it could be used as a pretext to bolster attacks on Ukrainian civilians.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, said: "There is not the slightest doubt that the events in the Moscow suburbs will contribute to a sharp increase in military propaganda, accelerated militarization, expanded mobilization, and, ultimately, the scaling up of the war."
White House national security adviser John Kirby said there was no indication that the Ukraine had any involvement in the incident.
Russia said if the US was sure that Ukraine was not involved it should share any information it had with them.
Footage taken at the scene of the shooting shows dozens of people taking cover in the hall while gunshots can be heard firing in the background.
The attackers threw explosives which also caused a huge blaze at the concert hall, with Russian media reporting that the venue’s roof was collapsing.
Around a third of the building had been set alight, according to a Tass state news agency.
Evacuations were carried out but an unknown number of people may have been trapped in the blaze, according to reports.
Russia’s top investigative agency said it is investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.
Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, said in a statement: "All possible measures are being taken to provide assistance to those affected as a result of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall."
Images taken at the scene of the attack shows a huge blaze alight at the building with clouds of billowing smoke.
Other footage shared by Russian media and Telegram channels show two men with rifles moving through the venue’s mall with long rounds of gunfire heard in the background.
Russian authorities said security had been tightened at the airports and railways stations in Moscow.
President Vladimir Putin is receiving regular updates on the incident at Crocus City Hall, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He said: “Vladimir Putin was informed about the beginning of the shooting in the first minutes of what happened in Crocus City Hall.”
