Forty were killed and 100 were injured in an attack outside Crocus Mall during a major music festival on Friday, said the Russian authorities. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack yet did not provide any evidence of their involvement.
On Friday, the terror group claimed responsibility for the attack in a brief message released on Telegram by the ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq.
The organisation did not reveal any inputs about the attack.
Video from the scene, the Crocus City Hall musical venue, shows the large complex, which includes both the music hall and a retail centre, on fire with smoke rising in the air.
According to Russian media, the armed persons "opened fire with automatic weapons" and "threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire."
They then "allegedly fled in a white Renault car.”
The attack occurred before the pop group Picnic was scheduled for their performance, according to Russia 24.
The band's manager informed state media that the artists were unharmed.
The Russia Prosecutor General's Office said that "unidentified people in camouflage broke into Crocus City Hall and began shooting before the start of the concert."
Regional governor Andrey Vorobyov stated that everything was being done to preserve lives in what is now the biggest terror assault on Moscow in decades.
A SWAT squad was dispatched to the area, and over 70 ambulances and physicians assisted the casualties.
According to the Russian Health Ministry, one hundred and fifteen people have been hospitalised, five of them are children.
Sixty individuals are in "serious condition."
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the incident as a tragedy. "A tragic catastrophe occurred today in Crocus City Centre. I extend my sympathies to the victims' families.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin was notified of the strike and is being brought up to date on ground operations
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia said that it was "monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow," including concerts. The embassy advised US citizens to avoid big gatherings.
Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia for almost two years, denied any role in the strike.
"Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a post on X.
He predicted that Russia would use the strike to legitimise the ongoing conflict and expand operations as part of "military propaganda" in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Moscow maintains that those behind the attack “will be destroyed, adding that “if Ukrainian officials or anyone from Ukraine is found behind the attack, they will be destroyed and Ukraine will pay the heavy price for this.”
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