23 March 2024 , 17:34
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The evil killers behind one of the worst terrorist atrocities of all time that took place in Moscow last night are seen being arrested and showing signs of torture as they reveal what drove them to commit such horror.
Footage shows soldiers detaining three different men alleged to have been behind the merciless slaughter of more than 150 people including children at the historic Crocus City Hall concert venue. The men are shaking and showing signs of torture and wounding with one horrific video shared online showing a soldier cut one of the men's ears off.
Meanwhile, Russia appears to be trying to shape the narrative for the attack - which terror group ISIS (Islamic State) has claimed responsibility for and the US says they previously warned of - onto Ukraine and its "patrons" like Britain and the US. The death toll from the assault in Krasnogorsk, a Russian city on the western edge of Moscow, has risen to at least 150 and was expected to go higher.
Baza - with close law enforcement contacts - showed images of four suspects, all from ex-Soviet republic Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan. They were Makhmadrasul Nasridinov, 37, Rivozhidin Ismonov, 51, Shohinjonn Safolzoda, 21 and Rustam Nazarov, 29.
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One of the men is detained and interrogated (social media/e2w)
Another shows signs of torture (social media/e2w)A video shows one of the suspects apparently confessing as he is kneeling with his hands bound behind his back. He said the massacre had been carried out for payment.
He is quizzed: “Exactly what was offered?” “To do these things for money,” he answered. “Which things? What exactly?" "These things, to kill.” “To kill who?” “They sent the location [on the Telegram messenger]. “Precisely who to kill?” “People.” “Which people?” “No matter which people.” “You mean, to walk in and to kill?” “Yes.”
A suspect - detained in Bryansk region, allegedly seeking to reach Ukraine - told how he had followed a presumably Muslim “preacher” on Telegram. He gave his name as Fariduni Shamsidin.
“I listened to lessons, studied on Telegram. The preacher’s assistant suggested killing people, and promised me a million rubles.”
This suspect's ear was cut off in a clear act of torture (social media/e2w)
Blood streams down his neck (social media/e2w)He claimed not to know the name of the preacher of his assistant who had ordered the killings.
The group en route to Ukraine were apprehended by Chechen fighters loyal to close Putin ally and warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
“Chechen fighters arrived at the given coordinates to the place where they were searching for terrorists around 3am and immediately began combing the area together with the FSB [special forces] and soldiers of the Leningrad Military District," he said. "They successfully completed their task of capturing the killers alive, despite the risks."
Meanwhile, graphic and disturbing footage shows the moment a suspected terrorist appears to be tortured during his arrest after “fleeing towards the Ukrainian border”.
This suspect is pinned to the ground with his chin on a soldier's boot (social media/e2w)
He confesses his crimes (social media/e2w)The suspect is pinned to the ground by armed Russian troops and part of his ear is cut off with a small knife. The severed ear is then forced several times into his mouth. He is also struck on the face. He later appears with a bandaged face.
It is unclear who was responsible for the brutality. But Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a general in the Russian national guard, admitted his forces - known for their brutality - were involved in the detention of the suspected terrorists. They were working with FSB special forces and Russian troops from Leningrad region, he said.
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The detained suspect appears to give his name as Redzhep Alizode. He is believed to be from Tajikistan.
Ruslan Nazarov - one of the suspects - reportedly went to see police of his own volition to say that he had been in Samara at the time of the terrorist attack. He may have been a previous owner of the Renault.
One of the suspects describes what happened (social media/e2w)An image appeared of one of the suspects being held in Bryansk region, allegedly seeking to escape to Ukraine. One of the suspects was discovered from a drone, it was reported. Two helicopters and eight drones were scrambled in the Bryansk region to search for the fugitives, reported SHOT.
Chairman of the Russian parliament's defence committee Andrey Kartapolov alleged that Ukraine and its patrons - the West - are the main stakeholders in the terrorist attack at Crocus.
A suspect is seen shaking on his knees in a new video after being held in Bryansk region by the Russian authorities. He had been hiding in a tree, said reports. He and others had been allegedly seeking to reach Ukraine.
One detained suspect said he had been promised 500,000 roubles [£4,300] for carrying out the act, and had received 250,000 roubles [£2,150] in an advance payment. More money was for "expenses".
He reveals he was told to kill 'anyone' (social media/e2w)"They delivered the weapons themselves,” he said. The orders came by Telegram messenger to kill people - "it doesn't matter who", he said. “They gave me the location of the attack.”
Two suspects were detained in the Bryansk region, according to reports on Saturday morning. A white Renault with Tver region licence plates with the alleged terrorists was stopped near the village of Teply, close to the borders with Belarus and Ukraine, reported Baza media. According to preliminary data, there were six people in the car, and two were detained. Four more managed to escape.
Telegram channel VChK-OGPU said earlier that one detainee from Tajikistan had named three others who he was with in a car. They said: “These are also natives of Tajikistan. They managed to hide in the forest. Now that it is light, an active search is underway for them."
Leading Geopolitical and security analyst Michael A Horowitz shared an image purporting to be from ISIS's al-Amaq news agency showing four of the attackers with faces blurred and performing a hand gesture in front of a black flag:
One witness said: “We huddled in a corner at the entrance. He [gunman] came up and started shooting directly at people. They had black hair. They were shouting at each other and it was not Russian speech.”
Meanwhile Baza media shared pictures of four suspected terrorists, giving their names as (clockwise from the left) Makhmadrasul Nasridinov, 27, Rivozhidin Ismonov, 51, Shokhindzhonn Safolzoda, 21, Rustam Nazarov, 29:
Death toll rises to 150
The death toll rose to 150 and Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov had warned of a significant rise, with the prospect of more bodies hidden under the mangled remains of the collapsed concert venue.
Some 28 bodies were found in one of the Crocus City Hall toilets, it was reported. Fourteen bodies were found on an evacuation staircase. According to sources, people were lying in families, reported Baza media. Some died in an embrace. Many mothers were found hugging their children.
RBC said CCTV analysis showed that the gunmen had been trained and had possible combat experience. "They studied the movement pattern in advance and thought over escape routes," said a source.
This man's ear has been cut off (social media/e2w)
The gunmen captured during the massacreThe terrorists left the Crocus City complex mingling with the crowds they had been seeking to shoot and burn alive a few minutes earlier. RT propaganda chief Margarita Simonyan said the suspects had been stopped 100 kilometres [62 miles] from the border with Ukraine.
“I bow to the fighters who did not let them leave,” she said. “We will help in any way we can. And the state should give them honours, of course.”
Separate footage showed the moment the gunmen stormed the Crocus Hall venue and started shooting. Russian politicians today signalled they would return the death penalty for terrorist crimes.
Other reports said a white car was stopped by police shooting through its tyres some 235 miles from Moscow on the Kyiv highway.
One was held and handcuffed - Mukhammadsoobir Faizov, aged 19, and is in hospital wounded. His left eye cannot close due to damage. He is currently in the hospital undergoing surgery.
Influential Russian MP and journalist Alexander Khinshtein said: “The Renault in which the suspects were driving was discovered at night in the area of the village Khatsun, Bryansk region. The car did not stop at the request of law enforcement officers and tried to escape.
"During the pursuit, shots were fired and the car overturned. One suspected terrorist was detained on the spot, the rest fled into the forest. As a result of the search, a second suspect was found and detained at approximately 3.50am.
“The search for the others continues. All law enforcement agencies are involved in the operation. A PM pistol, a magazine for an AKM assault rifle and passports of citizens of Tajikistan were found in the Renault car.”
Hero's extraordinary account
One extraordinary account told of a man who overpowered a suspected terrorist in the hall, allowing several dozen concert-goers to escape. Elena, 61, told how she eyed a gunman near the stage shooting people who ran in his direction.
“A young man jumped on him,” she said. I didn’t see how he jumped, I just saw how he had already taken the machine gun away from him and beat him with the butt of it.” With bodies lying nearby, she said: “He just gave us the opportunity to all go out through the stage, through the emergency exit we all ran out into the street. He saved a lot of people. I don’t know if he was still alive…”
Yulia Khvatkova told in a harrowing account how she was wounded in the shooting as she and her boyfriend arrived late. “I was wounded in the shoulder, my boyfriend was hit in the arms and legs,” she told ASTRA media. “A woman fell right next to me with a bullet through her temple. A cheerful woman sold tickets at the entrance, and then we ran away, and she lay with these tickets with a bullet in her head. I still have this picture before my eyes. We ran over the corpses through the same doors, sirens were already heard, rapid response services and ambulances were driving.”
Despite warnings of an attack on mass audience venues, she said: “The only thing that confused me was that there was no security, no reinforcement, no cordon at any entrance. It seems like a mass event. But no one at all. Even at the metal detectors there were no guards.”
Footage showed how the attackers arrived at Crocus and passed a police patrol to enter the hall. There were claims that the attackers had both Kalashnikov assault rifles, and flamethrowers. But other accounts said they had cans with a flammable liquid inside which they poured first and then set on fire. Vladimir Putin failed to speak to Russians about the massacre overnight, but his deputy premier Tatyana Golikova said he Putin "wished all those injured in the terrorist attack at Crocus a recovery and expressed gratitude to the doctors”.
Fire tore through the historic venue after the attackers used explosives (Anadolu via Getty Images)Major events were being cancelled for the coming days, and Moscow’s Red Square was sealed off. Versions varied as to who the perpetrators were. The US had led Western warnings at the possibility of an “extremist” attack on Moscow, but suggested that the danger period for this was two weeks ago. US reports today suggest an ISIS offshoot was behind the attack, namely Wilayat Khorasan, which is based in Afghanistan.
But John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator, White House National Security Council, said: “Right now we don't know to what extent this warning [from the US Embassy in early March] and this attack are related. But we had some concerns about the possibility of a terrorist attack in and around Moscow earlier this month.”
ISIS appeared to claim responsibility but there was uncertainty over whether this could be trusted. There were reports today that the Moscow security services suspect the Russian Volunteer Corps [RDK], a far-right paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine.
Russian Emergency Ministry rescuers work inside the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow today (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service)“Just on the eve of the terrorist attack, FSB officers detained in Moscow a whole group of their supporters who were planning to go to fight in Ukraine, but in the meantime were committing minor sabotage in Russia,” reported Kommersant citing security sources. “It was said that the terrorists were young people, Slavs, they were taller than average, up to 180 cm, and may have used false beards and moustaches.”
The RDK denied the possibility of participation in the terrorist attack.
Russian senator Andrey Klishas claimed the terrorist attack in Crocus was part of the war that Western intelligence services have been waging with Russia for many years.
“Support for terrorists in the Caucasus in the 1990s, the coup in Ukraine in 2014, the breakdown of the Minsk agreements, the extermination of civilians in Novorossiya, Russophobia, support for neo-Nazism, Crocus. All these are stages of the same war with Russia and there is only one customer here.”
People flee in terror (social media/e2w)
They ran for their lives (social media/e2w)Ukrainian outlet Pravda Gerashchenko alleged that “Russian special services either knew or were themselves the organisers of the terrorist attack…. The topic of vote rigging in ‘elections’ was removed from the agenda.”
Ukrainian military intelligence blamed the operation on Russian secret services and said they were likely to use the consequences to increase support for the military conflict. Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev called for a nuclear strike.
“Let's give the civilian population of Ukraine 48 hours to leave the cities and finally end this war with the victorious defeat of the enemy. Using all forces and means,” he posted.
Russian businessman, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, said: “Putin has no money or ability to protect himself from these terrorists, nor from natural and man-made disasters, but he has the money to bomb a foreign country every damn day and maintain a 600,000-strong army there. Putin has plenty of cops to beat up journalists, disperse demonstrations, destroy gay clubs, persecute dissidents, but there is none to directly work to protect the population.
"As long as Putin is in power, blood will spill non-stop. Every day, about 40 ambulances arrive for the morning ambulance train from the east of Ukraine and transport the wounded to hospitals. The Russian authorities are arranging what you saw in Crocus every day. Every! Damn! Day! Think about it. Two years. Every day. Horror!”
Putin has been informed of those arrests (Getty Images)The Tajikistan foreign ministry hit out at false reports over its citizens being involved. This was “unverified and unreliable information on the perpetrators of the terrorist attack”.
Russian political scientist Sergei Karnaukhov alleged Ukrainian involvement, saying: "Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to post insider information as the work is still in progress. The terrorist evacuation group was Ukrainian - this is all I can say.”
The head of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov reported to Vladimir Putin that 11 people had been detained, “including all four terrorists who were directly involved in the terrorist attack at Crocus”, said reports today in Moscow. Further work is underway to identify possible accomplices.
Putin's senior security apparatchik Nikolai Patrushev said of the "monstrous" massacre: “The crime committed is yet another confirmation that terrorism poses a significant security threat, requiring coordinated efforts from all citizens, intelligence services and departments to combat it.”
Trying to blame Ukraine
It became clear that Russia is preparing to blame Ukraine for involvement in the atrocity - as well as the country’s “patrons” like Britain and the UK.
Pro-Putin telegram channel WarGonzo said: "Those who were the brains of this terrorist operation understood all these nuances perfectly… Of course, when we talk about brains, I don’t even mean the CIA and the Americans, but the classic British style….. As for the British schemes, there is no doubt. Their style is to create situations in which the only choice is between 'bad' and 'very bad'."
Prominent Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “The main thing is that the American authorities should not forget how their information and political environment linked the terrorists who shot people in Crocus City Hall to the banned terrorist organisation ISIS.
“Now we know in which country these murderous bastards were planning to hide from prosecution - Ukraine. The very country that, by the hands of Western liberal regimes, for ten years, has been turning into a centre for the spread of terrorism in Europe, surpassing even Kosovo in the extremist frenzy.”
Such comments are being spread on pro-war Telegram channels. Head of RT propaganda network Margarita Simonyan said in warning about a Moscow atrocity the US knew in advance who was behind it.
The building collapsed (Getty Images)“Western intelligence services knew yesterday that the perpetrators resembled ISIS,” she said. "That's why they started feeding this version. Once again. They knew who the perpetrators were before… the arrests. That's direct involvement.”
Ukraine has vehemently denied any role in the bloodbath at Crocus City Hall. “We categorically reject accusations of Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the shooting at the Crocus concert hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow,” said the country’s foreign ministry.
Macabre footage emerged of piles of bodies outside the concert venue. Hundreds of investigators and rescuers were still combing the smouldering scene early today.
One woman told how she feigned being shot - which saved her life. “They [the terrorists] were standing at the exit, we didn't go there, but they saw us,” she said. “One of them came running back and started shooting at us. I fell on the floor, and pretended to die. A girl next to me was killed. Then a fire started. They [the terrorists] closed the door, but I guess they couldn't lock it [so that people were trapped inside a burning building]. I lay under the door and breathed the air coming through there.
“After a while I crawled out. Three minutes, maybe four minutes, maybe. I crawled out, looked around. Crawled to the exit and realised there was no one there, so I got outside.
INTERPOL made clear it stood ready to help identify and catch the killers. Secretary general of Interpol Jürgen Stock said: “I strongly condemn the attack at the Crocus City Hall which was a terrible act against innocent civilians. Our thoughts are with the victims, and their families and friends. INTERPOL is ready to provide support to the investigation by Russian authorities.”
Search efforts continue. 107 people are believed to have been hospitalised so far, many of them in what Russian media has described as a serious condition from the gunfire and blazes. The ministry of health has said five children are among those injured in hospital.
Russian conflict in Ukraine has been brought into the discussion about this attack as the attackers were detained in the Bryansk region earlier this morning and were "intending to cross over to Ukraine. They allegedly have "contacts on the Ukrainian side", Russia's security agency has said, as reported by Russian state-owned news agency Ria Novosti.
The attack killed over 90 (Getty Images)Many have predicted that Russia would attempt to link Ukraine to the attacks, but this FSB claim cannot at this stage be independently verified.
As news of the attack broke last night, Mykhailo Podolyak - an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - was quick to deny Ukrainian involvement, saying his nation had "absolutely nothing to do with these events".
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been at war with its neighbour ever since, with fighting showing no signs of slowing as conflict enters its third year. Putin has apparently wished those injured in the attack a speedy recovery, according to one of his deputies.
This shocking attack comes after a few weeks ago, the US embassy in Moscow warned of "extremists" having imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts, and as the BBC's Security correspondent Gordon Corera explained that warning appears to have been dismissed by Russian officials as Putin referred to it as "open blackmail, an attempt to scare and destabilise [Russian] society".
The concert hall is still under close inspection, with emergency services working to clear the rubble, find those missing, seize evidence and go through CCTV footage of the horrific attack. Reportedly, the causes of death of the 93 victims were gunshot wounds and poisoning by combustion products.