Open in full screen mode Russians gathered in front of Crocus City Hall on Saturday. Radio-Canada Voice synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, makes it possible to generate spoken text from a written text. Russia observes a day of national mourning on Sunday after the massacre at a concert hall in Moscow, the most serious attack murder on European soil claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). Individuals burst into Crocus City Hall on Friday evening, before opening fire with automatic weapons on the crowd and x27;starting a fire with a flammable liquid according to investigators, killing at least 133 people. Denouncing a barbaric terrorist act, Vladimir Putin, in a televised address on Saturday, promised to punish the guilty. The Russian president announced that the four perpetrators of the attack had been arrested on their way to Ukraine, without mentioning the Islamic State claim. The Kremlin earlier announced the arrest of 11 people, including four terrorists involved in the attack. These four foreign citizens were captured in the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine and Belarus, according to the authorities. This attack, which occurred in the concert hall located in Krasnogorsk, northwest of the Russian capital, is the deadliest in Russia for around twenty years. years, and the bloodiest to have been claimed by the Islamic State group in Europe.
A fire was started in Crocus City Hall on Friday.
The toll of 133 dead and around a hundred injured is expected to rise further, according to the authorities.
Searches in the rubble of the building ravaged by flames and whose roof partially collapsed are continuing and could take days. Heavy equipment arrived on site Saturday evening to dismantle damaged structures and remove debris, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said.
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Snow, tears, music and anecdotes for a last goodbye to Brian Mulroney
ELSEWHERE ON INFO: Snow, tears, music and anecdotes for a last goodbye to Brian MulroneyLoading
Snow, tears, music and anecdotes for a last goodbye to Brian Mulroney
ELSEWHERE ON INFO: Snow, tears, music and anecdotes for a last goodbye to Brian MulroneyThe Islamic State group, which Russia is fighting in Syria and which is also active in the Russian Caucasus, has already carried out attacks in the country since the end of the 2010s. But the group has never claimed responsibility for an attack of this magnitude.
On one of its Telegram accounts, Islamic State had affirmed on Friday evening that the attack had been carried out by four of its members, and was part of the context […] of the war raging between the group and countries fighting Islam.
According to the Site group, specializing in anti-terrorism research, a video apparently shot by the attackers of the concert hall near Moscow was broadcast on social media accounts usually used by IS.
This one minute and 31 second video shows several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, armed with assault rifles and knives, in what appears to be the lobby of the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk.
The attackers fired several bursts, numerous inert bodies littered the ground and we could see the start of a fire in the background.
However, neither Vladimir Putin nor the security services (FSB) have accused the jihadist group.
The FSB claimed that the suspects had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side and planned to flee to that country, without providing further details on the nature of these links or proof of their existence.
Ukraine has not the slightest link with the incident, insisted the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak, rejecting absurd accusations.
Members of the Investigative Committee of Russia examine ammunition found at the scene of the deadly attack on Friday.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday he hoped that this attack would not become a pretext for an escalation of violence, in a clear allusion to Ukraine.
The head of public media RT, Margarita Simonian, published videos purporting to show confessions of two suspects during their interrogation, in which they do not name a sponsor. The AFP is unable to confirm their veracity.
Despite the Islamic State claim, many questions remain pending.
According to Russian media and MP Alexander Khinstein, some of the suspects are from Tajikistan. The authorities of this Central Asian country said they had not received confirmation from the Russian authorities on this subject.
All the day on Saturday, dozens of shocked Russians flocked to blood donation centers in Moscow or improvised memorials.
When we see this situation, we don't want to stay on the sidelines, we want to help, Vladislav, an 18-year-old student, explained to AFP while queuing to give his blood.
On many billboards and at some bus stops in Moscow, posters appeared showing a candle on a black background and the ;inscription: We are in mourning 03/22/2024.