Putin vows to seek justice after deadly attack rocks Moscow concert hall

• Four gunmen attempting to flee to Ukraine have been arrested.
• Putin did not mention a statement by the Daesh group claiming responsibility.
• The attack resulted in the deaths of at least 133 people.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to punish those responsible for the “barbaric terrorist attack” on a Moscow concert hall that claimed the lives of more than 130 people. He stated that authorities had arrested four gunmen attempting to flee to Ukraine.

Kyiv vehemently denied any involvement, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Putin of attempting to shift the blame onto them.

In his first public remarks on the attack, Putin did not mention a statement by the Daesh group claiming responsibility.

Camouflaged gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk and set fire to the building on Friday evening, resulting in the deaths of at least 133 people.

On Saturday, the Daesh group stated on Telegram that four of its fighters carried out the attack. They wielded machine guns, pistols, knives, and firebombs. The group claimed the attack was part of “the raging war” with “countries fighting Islam.”

Daesh video:

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, gunmen who carried out the deadly attack have posted a video on social media accounts typically used by the group Daesh. The minute-and-a-half-long video, depicting several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, armed with assault rifles and knives, circulated.

The individuals appear to be at the lobby of the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, northwest of the Russian capital. The attackers fired several bursts of gunfire, leaving numerous inert bodies strewn about, with a fire seen starting in the background.

The video, considered by the SITE monitoring group to belong to Amaq, the news arm of Daesh, appeared on a Telegram account.

Deadliest attack:

Daesh claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Russia for almost two decades and the deadliest in Europe. Russian officials anticipate a further rise in the death toll, with more than 100 wounded individuals hospitalized.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, responsible for probing major crimes, stated that rescue workers were still extracting bodies from the burnt-out building on Saturday. So far, the emergency ministry has named 29 of the victims, with the blaze complicating the identification process.

In his televised address on Saturday, Putin declared, “Terrorists, murderers, non-humans… have only one unenviable fate: retribution and oblivion.” Describing the attack as a “barbaric, terrorist act,” he announced, “All four direct perpetrators… all those who shot and killed people, have been found and detained.”