Russia's capital Moscow on Friday night witnessed one of the worst terror attacks when gunmen began shooting in a concert hall, leaving at least 60 dead and 100 injured. According to international media reports, automatic gunfire rang out before the start of the concert by Piknic in Moscow. Immediately scores of people hid behind seats in the hall or rushed towards entrances to the basement or roof to escape the bullets. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the massive attack. The terror group took responsibility for the attack in a short statement published by ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram.
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- On Friday, several gunmen fired at a crowd in Moscow at the Crocus City Hall. The attackers were dressed in camouflaged outfits entered the building, opened fire, and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb.
- TASS news agency said that SOBR special police forces and the OMON anti-riot squad had been sent to the Crocus hall. Around 100 people were evacuated, along with members of the rock band (Picnic) from the basement of a Moscow concert hall building after the attack.
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- Russian foreign ministry on Telegram wrote, "The entire world community must condemn this despicable crime!"
- The US presidency called the attack "terrible" but said there was no immediate indication of any link to the war in Ukraine. The US embassy had said two weeks before the attack that there was a risk of "extremists" targeting mass gatherings in Moscow, including concerts.
- The EU "is shocked and appalled by the reports of a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow," said a spokesman for the bloc.
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- "The images from Moscow tonight are horrifying. Our thoughts go to the victims and to those injured as well as to the Russian people," the French foreign ministry wrote on X.
- Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday that Kyiv had nothing to do with Friday's attack by gunmen at a Moscow concert hall. "We have a full-scale, all-out war with the Russian regular army and with the Russian Federation as a country. And regardless of everything, everything will be decided on the battlefield," the Ukrainian presidential adviser said.
- The attack happened just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.
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