About Moscow Concert Hall Attack
The deadliest terrorism attack since 2004 Beslan school siege.
My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and all affected by this heinous crime.
What happened?
On Friday night, local time, a group of gunmen entered the Crocus City Hall Building located just outside Moscow area. This building was supposed to hosting a sold-out entertainment event for famous Russian rock band called Piknik. With a capacity for over 6,000 people, the gunmen started shooting, causing chaos to ensue.
Not only did they use automatic rifles, but the terrorists also employed explosives to set the building ablaze. The attack claimed the lives of 139 people (as of March 26), including two who died in hospital, and left hundreds injured. Many of the victims have been identified, while around 75 others require genetic testing for identification.
A brief about ISIS-K, a group linked to the assault.
Yes, you read that right. It’s ISIS with the K.
The four suspects in the assault were charged with committing terrorist act and remanded to custody until May 22. They were identified as Dalerjon B. Mirzoyev, Sidakrami M. Rachabalizoda, Muhammadsobir Z. Fayzov, and Shamsidin Fariduni. Three of them told the court they were from Tajikistan and spoke Tajik.
U.S. officials stated that the attack had been carried out by the Islamic State, who claimed the responsibility and released the propaganda shown above. ISIS-K or the Islamic State Khorasan, is an organization that has been a partner-in-crime with the Taliban.
The two of them have engaged in bloody events across Afghanistan and against each other. Khorasan argues and portray on how the Taliban’s government has failed to provide security in the country for the past years.
Soon after Taliban seized power, Khorasan carried out dozens of attacks towards Taliban’s military checkpoints. The following year, their fighters attempted to assassinate Pakistani diplomat for fun and and engaged in terror activities that further destabilized the country’s political conditions.
Many of the source said that the US has warned Kremlin about the attack, but Putin just totally ignored it by saying it’s only part of Western propaganda. The question that comes out my mind is just: how on Earth did US know this, if they are not the one who created it?
How are Kremlin response?
The FSB, or the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (i believe the B came from the Russian word, that is безопасности where the letter “б” pronounced as B), or the FBI of Russia said that they had detained 11 people convicted in connection with the attack, including the four terrorist that directly involved.
The four men appeared severely injured in court, with one entering the courtroom in an orange wheelchair, his eye bulging, and a catheter on his lap. While one had one of his ear covered and the other drawing people attention because of the plastic on his neck.
Its obvious for us to knew what had happened to them. Since Saturday, numerous videos of men being tortured have circulated on social media like X. One particularly disturbing videos showed on how one defendant, identified as Saidakrami M. Rajabalizoda, having his ear sliced off and shoved into his mouth as a symbol of hummilation.
A gruesome photograph also surfaced online on how Shamsidin Fariduni get a battery hooked up on the genitals while he was detained and powerless. The origin of these videos circulating on social media is still unknown, but according to New York Times, they were spread by “Nationalistic, pro-war Telegram channels”.
Another clip shows how the FSB capturing one of the attackers running through the wood and battering him. They believed the attacker try to flee to Ukraine, towards Briansk, located on the western side of Russia, just before Ukrainian border.
As the gore clips continued, the brutal treatment of the defendants became clear. The way Kremlin showcase them publicly is a way to intended a sign of warning to what could happen to terrorism act and somehow give an act of revenge to the people suffered.
How this attack affect Russia-Ukraine War?
Earlier this March, Vladimir V. Putin secured unsurprising his fifth term as president of Russia. As the election commission announced the results, Putin 5.0 may not be so different as the latter. We could expect the continuation of the war in Ukraine with more confrontation with the West.
Regarding the attack, Putin acknowledged for the first time that the bloody assault was executed by what he mentioned as “radical Islamists”. However, he still insists that Ukraine could have played a role, despite ISIS-K’s claim of responsibility.
Anyone else in confussion? Well you are not alone. But here’s the thing..
As Russians mourned, Putin suggested that the tragedy was somehow orchestrated by Ukraine as the mastermind. He based this statement on the question of “Who benefited from it?”, and mentioned that the atrocity was part of attempts by those who have been at war with Russia since 2014, hinting at Ukraine.
Another presumption is based on how one of the shooter run towards Ukraine’s border in Briansk region, demonstrating on how it has the connection to the Ukraine. Putin continued by questioning, “Of course, it is necessary to answer the question, why after commiting the crime the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there?”
Ukrainians reacted with mixed feelings of concern and mockery to the narrative pushed by Putin and the state media’s portrayal. The false claim prompted Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, to declare that “Putin is a pathological liar.” President Zelensky’s response was even more scathing, accusing Russia of bringing terrorists to Ukraine and blaming them for the atrocities by saying:
“They came to Ukraine, they burn our cities — and they try to blame Ukraine. They torture and rape our people and they are blamed. They have brought hundreds of thousands of their terrorists here on Ukrainian soil, they are fighting against us, and they do not care what is happening inside their own country. Yesterday all this happened, and this lowlife Putin, instead of dealing with his Russian citizens, instead of addressing them, kept silent for 24 hours — thinking how to bring this to Ukraine. Everything is absolutely predictable,”
But either way, the attack would have dire consequences and be suicidal for Kyiv’s future. Because first of all, the accusations allign with typical of Kremlin’s playbook to justify their violence by blaming Ukraine for whatever happened to them. While secondly, felt offended by his country’s security failure due to the attack, especially after the landslide win.
