More than 130 dead near Moscow
IS distributes video of attack on concert hall
March 24, 2024, 6:46 a.m
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On Friday, attackers murdered more than 130 people in a concert hall near Moscow. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the crime, but the Russian leadership constructs a connection to Ukraine. The terrorist group is now publishing a recording of the attack on a propaganda channel.
The jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) has released a video showing the attack on the concert hall in Moscow, which was allegedly recorded by the terrorists themselves. The US company Site, which specializes in monitoring extremist Islamist platforms, reports that the approximately one and a half minute long recording was distributed on Telegram in a channel operated by the IS propaganda organ Amaq.
Several men can be seen and heard in the recording, armed with assault rifles and knives, who are apparently in the entrance hall of Crocus City Hall. More than 130 people were killed in the concert hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday. In the recording, one of the men at the entrance to a concert hall apparently fires at several visitors at close range and kills them. The faces and voices of the attackers are unrecognizable. Numerous lifeless bodies lie around them, and a fire can be seen in the background.
Putin wants to blame Ukraine
IS claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after the crime and published pixelated photos of the attackers before the video was taken. The material is particularly important because the Russian security authorities have not yet addressed the terrorist organization’s confession. Rather, in a televised speech, President Vladimir Putin linked the alleged perpetrators to Ukraine.
The editor-in-chief of the Russian state broadcaster RT, formerly known as Russia Today, Margarita Simonyan, published two videos that are said to show interrogations of two suspected perpetrators. Both admit their involvement in the attack, but say nothing to those behind it. The government in Kiev denies any involvement in the terrorist attack. Terrorism experts have so far classified the IS information as genuine.
According to Greater Moscow Governor Andrei Vorobyov, 133 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the concert hall since the attack on Friday evening. The doctors also fought “for the lives of 107 people,” he explained.
“Complete misjudgment”
The chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, sees the attack as a “severe blow” for the Russian security authorities. There had been a warning about attacks, “even specifically regarding concerts,” the FDP politician told “Bild am Sonntag”. It is incomprehensible that there were no additional security measures. “Obviously Putin, in a complete misjudgment, did not take these warnings seriously and will try to distract from them,” she said. Instead of waging a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, Putin should join other countries in the world in defending themselves against terror. “International terrorism is the true hostage of humanity,” she said.
The secret services of the USA and other Western countries had already warned of an impending attack at the beginning of March. Kremlin leader Putin dismissed the warnings as a Western provocation.