A group of gunmen stormed a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday night, killing at least 133 people and wounding more than 100, Russia’s top security agency said, according to state news agencies.
The authorities in Russia have yet to identify who was behind the attack, though U.S. officials said they believed that a branch of the Islamic State, Islamic State-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, the branch of the group based in Afghanistan, was responsible for the attack.
The assault also led to explosions and an enormous fire at the venue, Crocus City Hall, which is one of the largest and most popular concert halls in Moscow and the site of a shopping mall.
The Russian authorities said Saturday that they had arrested the four people who carried out the mass killing and arson. Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s equivalent to the F.B.I., said it had opened a criminal case into a terrorist act.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukraine’s presidential office, said in a video statement that “Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do” with the attack.
On March 7, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a security alert warning that its personnel were “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts.”
Below, a billboard in central Moscow on Saturday reads, “We mourn 22.03.24.”
Damage to the Crocus City Hall seen on Saturday morning.
People lined up on Saturday outside a medical facility in Moscow to donate blood for the injured.
Crocus City Hall in Moscow on fire Friday night.
A still image taken from a video obtained by Reuters shows gunmen walking through the concert hall and firing on people.
The attack took place within a sprawling shopping and entertainment complex on the outskirts of Moscow.
Firefighters worked on putting out the blaze at the concert hall.
Security personnel directed people outside the concert hall.