Martin Lange // Photo credits: OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP
The four men arrested, suspected of having participated in the attack in Moscow on Friday March 22, were presented to justice this Sunday evening. As the death toll rises and now stands at 137 dead, Russian officials refuse to mention the Islamic State and accuse Ukraine.
The toll continues to rise in Moscow, 72 hours after the Crocus City Hall attack which left 137 dead and dozens injured. Friday March 22, four terrorists stormed and set fire to this concert hall in the suburbs of the Russian capital. After fleeing, they were arrested near the Ukrainian border and then interrogated.
A “failure” of Russian services
The alleged attackers were then presented to a Moscow court on Sunday evening. In the videos broadcast from their hearing, the four men follow one another in the glass cage reserved for the accused, handcuffed, with swollen faces. One of the suspects has a bandage on his ear, while another lies in a wheelchair, unable to open his eyes.
The attack on Crocus City Hall was claimed by the Islamic State on Friday, but the Kremlin refuses to discuss this, preferring to point the finger at Ukraine. According to Viatcheslav Avioutskii, a specialist in international relations, this strategy betrays a desire to hide intelligence flaws. “Pointing fingers the Islamic State is an admission of failure for Mr. Putin. This is a blatant failure of its special services. This is the failure of the public force. They did not see this attack coming,” he explains.
The United States, for its part, claims to have warned the Russians at the beginning of March that a planned attack could target Moscow. The four alleged attackers were remanded in custody until May 22, pending trial. They face life imprisonment.