At least 40 killed and more than 100 wounded in Moscow concert hall attack

[BeyondGeography]

Source: The Guardian

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded according to unofficial reports in the worst terror attack in Russia in years, as gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire and detonated explosives in a big concert hall in the outskirts of Moscow.

Photos showed the Crocus City Hall engulfed in flames as videos emerged from the concert hall attack, showing at least four gunmen opening fire from automatic weapons as panicked Russians fled for their lives.

In one video, three men in fatigues carrying rifles fired at pointblank range into bodies strewn about the lobby of the concert hall. The attackers also apparently detonated explosives, as the sounds of blasts could be heard in other videos from the attack. At least two blasts took place at the concert hall on Friday evening, news agencies reported.

Video published online showed horrific scenes of some people begging for help from the roof of the concert hall as it burnt behind them. Other video showed images of victims with gunshot wounds being treated in the street outside of the building.




Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/22/moscow-concert-hall-shooting-blast?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[jmbar2]

1. Some speculation that it might be a False Flag by Russia

Similar to what Putin did before invading Chechnya.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

[BeyondGeography]

3. Yes, a lot of that out there

And if history is any guide it’s warranted.

[RussBLib]

19. Found this on Wiki

Picnic (Russian: Пикник is a Russian rock band known for its unique style which is a mixture of art rock, progressive rock and original Russian rock. The band was formed in 1978 in Leningrad by Sergey Omelnichenko, Evgeny Voloschuk, Aleksey Dobychin and Edmund Shklyarskiy. Some of their early songs are written in Polish.
In 2016, the band was barred from performing in Ukraine due to their performance in Crimea after annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, because Ukraine, like the United Nations, considers Crimea to be illegally occupied.[1][2][3]
Picnic were the band set to perform at Crocus City Hall on 22 March 2024 before the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack took place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picnic_(band)

[orangecrush]

36. It is

The blasts hit Buynaksk on 4 September and Moscow on 9 and 13 September. On 13 September, Russian Duma speaker Gennadiy Seleznyov made an announcement in the Duma about receiving a report that another bombing had just happened in the city of Volgodonsk. A bombing did happen in Volgodonsk—but only three days later—on 16 September. Chechen militants were blamed for the bombings, but denied responsibility, along with Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov.

A suspicious device resembling those used in the bombings was found and defused in an apartment block in the Russian city of Ryazan on 22 September.[3][4] On 23 September, Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the inhabitants of Ryazan and ordered the air bombing of Grozny, which marked the beginning of the Second Chechen War.[5] Three FSB agents who had planted the devices at Ryazan were arrested by the local police.[6] The next day, FSB director Nikolay Patrushev announced that the incident in Ryazan had been an anti-terror drill and the device found there contained only sugar, and freed the FSB agents involved.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

[FredGarvin]

22. No shit

This is Putin's work

[Warpy]

44. ISIS claimed responsibility

ISIS claims responsibility for attack in busy Moscow-area concert venue that left at least 40 dead

ISIS has claimed responsibility for an attack at a popular concert venue complex near Moscow Friday that left at least 40 dead and more than 100 wounded after assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices.

The terror group took responsibility for the attack in a short statement published by ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram on Friday. The group did not provide evidence to support the claim.

Video footage from the site of the attack, the Crocus City Hall concert venue, shows the vast complex, which is home to both the music hall and a shopping center, on fire with smoke billowing into the air. RIA Novosti reported the armed individuals “opened fire with automatic weapons” and “threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire.”

State media Russia 24 reported the roof on the venue has partially collapsed.

?q=w_1110,c_fill/f_webp

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/crocus-moscow-shooting

Putin is going to be annoyed.

Witnesses are saying the attackers looke "Asian." Sounds about right.

[orangecrush]

52. Well, I was wrong

I had no idea ISIS had a beef with Putin.

I feel badly for the innocent victims.

[riversedge]

2. So much suffering.

[Mysterian]

4. Chechens?

They definitely hate Russia.

[Coventina]

6. That's my guess. They've done that sort of thing before. n/t

[orangecrush]

37. ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

[FredGarvin]

20. Putin

[Kennah]

40. That was my first thought

[orangecrush]

53. ISIS

WTF??

[Blue 808]

5. Following on Agenda Free TV...

[blue-wave]

7. Russia is asking for the world

To condemn this attack. I'm still waiting for Russia to repent for their Mariupol theater attack that slaughtered 600 Ukrainian women and children
This is likely a Russian false flag to draw attention away from the war and the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine.

AP evidence points to 600 dead in Mariupol theater airstrike

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-entertainment-europe-donetsk-59fbc059a9fe9b5825841ff25025b5cc

[FredGarvin]

18. This was a Russian attack

Putin does these things

[SergeStorms]

24. Yes he does, for propaganda purposes.

Ex-KGB head wouldn't think twice about killing millions of his countrymen if it served his purposes.

Trump wants that same power.

[orangecrush]

34. He's done it before

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

[blue-wave]

43. Yes,it is a false flag by the Russian Kremlin

I should have been more definitive in my statement.

[EX500rider]

8. Lets hope the Russian Special Forces don't fail miserably in their response like during...

...the 2004 Beslan school siege where they literally used tanks and flamethrowers during a hostage rescue ending up with 334 dead hostages, mostly children, or the also fucked up response to the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis where they pumped gas into the theater and ended up with 132 hostages killed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_siege

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis

[Kennah]

41. Advocating for Almighty Satan

I think Russian SpecOps were in a nearly impossible situation in Beslan. They perhaps aren't all that well trained in hostage rescue, and were pushed into this--much like the West Germans at Munich in 1972.

[EX500rider]

46. Still, in any hostage rescue, tanks, RPG's, thermobaric weapons & helicopter gunships are not called for

Especially as this was 2 years after the Moscow theater hostage crisis, so they had time to work on their hostage rescue plans & training & they had 52 hours to work out a better plan.

They had Russian police, Internal Troops, Russian Army forces, Spetsnaz including the elite Alpha and Vympel units of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and the OMON special units of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).

And yet after 52 hours they had no fire trucks or ambulances on standby either.
When 186 children die in your "rescue" attempt, you have utterly failed IMO.

[Kennah]

51. I don't believe that Spetsnaz trains in hostage rescue

Almost every major military has a unit or units trained and focused on hostage rescue. Maybe the Spetsnaz has a group that trains in hostage rescue, but the Russian military does not have a good history of learning from their mistakes and training up.

[RussBLib]

9. Pregoshin's thugs getting revenge?

Putin has a lot of enemies.

[et tu]

12. that was my first thought

but like you said "lots of enemies"~

[FredGarvin]

17. It was Putin

Everybody knows that

[womanofthehills]

50. US Embassy in Moscow warned of a venue attack on March 7

NYT -
“The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a security alert on March 7, warning that its personnel were “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts.” The statement warned Americans that an attack could take place in the next 48 hours.

The warning was related to the attack on Friday, according to people briefed on the matter. But it was not related to possible Ukrainian sabotage, American officials said, adding that the State Department would not have used the word “extremists” to warn about actions ordered from Kyiv.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/europe/moscow-concert-attack-us-embassy.html

[blue-wave]

10. This is also the theater

where Trump's Miss Universe Pageant was held in 2013.

[RussBLib]

11. 9500-seat sold out arena

I think it might be hard to party as a Russian as your country is threatening the world and committing atrocities in Ukraine and elsewhere. But what do real Russians actually know about the war and the world? Hard to say.

Cannot trust the Russians.

[ancianita]

13. The Guardian's just updated to more than 40 dead and more than 100 wounded.

Thanks for your post.

[Pachamama]

14. This has an Inglorious Basterds feel to the attack

Locking doors and starting the fire

Question is - who was the target - who did it

[FredGarvin]

16. Putin

[Pachamama]

23. Agreed

Most likely

[orangecrush]

33. Here

Putin did it.

He did it before and it worked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

[Pachamama]

35. Agreed

Worked 25 years ago to tighten power - this time it will be blamed on Ukraine - maybe to justify Putin using tactical nukes on Ukraine?

It makes no sense for Ukraine to do such an attack. Not their style and no gain or purpose.

This was either Putin or Russian opposition inside Russia.

Regardless - the little bald psychopath Czar will use this as an excuse to use Nukes.

[FredGarvin]

15. Trump and Putin

Both are blaming Ukraine.

[orangecrush]

30. This is how Putin came to power

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

[SergeStorms]

21. Now 40 dead.

By the time this is over, there will be even more.

I'm glad this kind of stuff never happens in Russia.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

25. Adding a link, not with any joy.

Europe
Gunmen kill 40 in attack at concert hall near Moscow, Russia's FSB says

By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn
March 22, 20244:12 PM EDT Updated 2 min ago

{snip}

[Voltaire2]

26. These were innocent people, civilians not soldiers and this is a despicable act.

Those responsible should be arrested, tried, and punished.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

27. He got himself re-elected. Now he needs a mandate. nt

[prodigitalson]

38. this

[orangecrush]

28. Reminds me of how Putin came to power

With bombings in suburban Moscow that turned out to be FSB

[happybird]

29. So weary of the violence and sad over the deaths of countless innocent victims these past several yaers

My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the survivors who must be horribly traumatized.

[FakeNoose]

31. The news video just said that the roof has collapsed, so probably more have died inside

No word yet, but it seems that more people were trapped inside the burning building.

Also no word on whether any group has claimed responsibility for the terror attack. (?)

[OnlinePoker]

32. Two weeks ago, the U.S. warned Russia of imminent terrorist attacks

Russian media panned it as a "conspiracy theory".

https://www.newsweek.com/us-warning-extremist-attack-moscow-russia-1877216

[prodigitalson]

39. urging Americans to avoid crowds, including concerts, monitor local media updates, and to be aware of their surroundings

being aware of your surroundings and thinking "holy shit I'm in Russia!"

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

48. So now it will be blamed on us n/t

[keopeli]

42. I predict this will be blamed on Ukraine to solidify support before a conscription. Russians are not dumb people.

Though they are propagandized, many Russians know exactly what is happening but stay silent out of fear. Of course, there are a percentage of true believers, many of whom are young. That is the age group Putin needs for a conscription.

Typical Putin pattern is to shock the population by performing his 'bad acts' immediately following a positive, unifying event. For example, the Crimea invasion followed on the heels of the Sochi Olympics. This terror attack has followed a landslide (fake) election. To me, this has Putin's fingerprints on it.

It is possible he'll blame the anti-Kremlin rebels that are causing trouble in the South by Ukraine. (The Pregoshin army.)

One thing is for sure: this is a terrible omen of more horror and mayhem and killing on the horizon.

[orangecrush]

47. THIS

[Mosby]

45. Video

Link to tweet

[brooklynite]

49. Death toll now 60...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/russia-moscow-concert-attack-shooting-rcna144706