Russian authorities raise the death toll in the attack on the Crocus concert hall in Moscow to 115

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested 11 suspects of having participated in the attack that this Friday left more than a hundred dead and 140 injured at the Crocus concert hall in Moscow.

Among those detained are four alleged attackers, according to the Russian agency Tass.

At least five of the 11 suspects would be citizens of Tajikistan, according to the revelation by the media Baza, Shot and Ostorodzhno, Novosti and a State Duma deputy, who have published the identities, including photos, of those suspected of having committed one of the largest attacks in Russia of this century.

According to leaked information, the car of the alleged attackers has been intercepted in the Bryansk region.

The Russian authorities have raised the death toll to 115 this Saturday.

The attack occurred at the Crocus City Hall, in the city of Krasnogorsk, about 25 kilometers northwest of the capital.

A group of people dressed in camouflage entered the place with assault weapons and opened fire just before the Picnic group's concert began, at 8:00 p.m. (two hours less in mainland Spain).

All the tickets, 6,200, were sold and the videos from the place show the point-blank murder of some attendees while trying to flee.

The Shot channel has published a video where one of the alleged attackers is interrogated in the street as soon as he is arrested.

“I shot for money,” he responds when asked what he was doing at the leisure center.

Kneeling, bound and trembling, he claims that he received the attack proposal through a mediator on Telegram.

According to him, they trained for a month on the attack and were promised half a million rubles (about 5,000 euros) “for killing people.”

The attackers also caused a fire in the leisure center that houses the concert hall.

According to sources from the Shot and Baza channels, five attackers have been identified as citizens of Tajikistan who fled from the Crocus hall in a Renault Simbol: Muhammadsobir Fayzov (19 years old, native of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and wounded and arrested in his escape attempt), Shokhinjonn Safolzoda (21 years old), Rustam Nazarov (29 years old), Majmadrasul Nasridinov (37 years old) and Rivozhidin Ismonov (51 years old).

In addition, they were registered as residents in the Russian regions of Yaroslavl, Ivanovo and Samara.

Another alleged terrorist fled with them, but has not been identified, according to preliminary information.

The Tajik Interior Ministry has subsequently denied that two of its citizens identified as suspected terrorists had participated in the attack.

Dushanbe authorities have clarified that Majmadrasul Nasridinov and Rivozhidin Ismonov have been in the Central Asian country since November last year.

At the moment the authorship of the attack has not been officially confirmed.

Ukraine and Russian volunteers fighting the Kremlin have denied involvement in the tragedy, and the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A Kalashnikov assault rifle lying on the floor while Russian investigators work inside the Crocus concert hall after the terrorist attack.RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (EFE)

Russian investigators examine the ammunition used in the attack inside the Crocus concert hall this Saturday.

RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (EFE)

Russian investigators examining several ammunition magazines used in the attack.

RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (EFE)

Russian investigators point to several cartridges used in the terrorist attack.

RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (EFE)

Agents investigate along with the remains of weapons found in the shopping center after the attack.

RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (EFE)

Tajikistan, bordering Afghanistan, is one of the hot spots of Islamic terrorism in the post-Soviet space.

The Kremlin supports Dushanbe militarily to control extremist groups that cross that porous border, and the risk of attacks is a concern that usually arises at meetings of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Russian alternative to NATO.

Furthermore, Russia has become one of the main targets of ISIS due to its support for both the Government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, a traditional ally of another extremist faction that is an enemy of ISIS, Al Qaeda.

The US intelligence services warned Moscow two weeks ago that “an extremist attack” was being prepared on mass events on its territory, including concerts.

US Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that Washington cannot confirm whether the Moscow attack was related to the information that led to its alert.

The Kremlin, which dismissed this warning as “an attempt to frighten Russian society,” has asked the White House for more information.

State Duma deputy Alexander Jinshtein has revealed that two suspects have been detained and the rest have fled when their car was intercepted near the town of Jatsun Karachevski, located in the Bryansk region, more than 150 kilometers from both the border. Belarusian and Ukrainian.

Chase and shooting

According to the politician's information, the car did not comply with the police order to stop and tried to escape.

During the chase, shots were fired and the vehicle ended up overturning.

The agents arrested one of the suspects on the spot and another in the forest to which the alleged terrorists fled.

Inside the vehicle were a pistol, an automatic rifle and passports from Tajikistan.

The authorities have restricted circulation on the M-3 highway within Bryansk and have declared the

Interception

alert plan .

This road, today divided by the front and military posts, linked Moscow with kyiv before the invasion of Ukraine.

A woman placed flowers on a fence outside the Crocus concert hall on Saturday.

MAXIM SHIPENKOV (EFE)

The Shot channel has published the alleged chronology of the attack.

According to their sources, a white Renault stopped in front of the entrance to the concert hall at 7:55 p.m. in Moscow this Friday (two hours less in mainland Spain).

The Picnic group's concert began at 8:00 p.m. with a full capacity, about 6,200 people.

The terrorists came out of the vehicle with assault weapons and opened fire on the guards and other people present in the building's reception.

According to Shot, at 8:03 p.m. they arrived at the auditorium and shot at the spectators.

In addition, they set fire to the place with several containers of gasoline that they were carrying with them.

Finally, a white Renault Simbol with four terrorists inside left the Crocus hall parking lot at 8:13 p.m.

The Baza channel reports that Moscow has sent instructions to all police departments in central Russia.

“Alleged criminals may possess weapons and explosives.

When making arrests, police officers must observe personal security measures.

All personnel must be focused on searching for the suspects,” the media reports.

The Government of Tajikistan has sent its condolences to the Russian people.

“We strongly condemn the horrendous terrorist attack committed against civilians at the Crocus City concert center in Moscow.

We express our deepest condolences and support to the families and friends of the victims, and we wish all the injured a speedy recovery,” the Dushanbe authorities emphasize in a statement.

Follow all the international information on

Facebook

and

X

, or in

our weekly newsletter

.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_