Following the bloodiest incident within Russia in 20 years, which saw hundreds of people shot dead with automatic guns during a rock festival outside of Moscow, Russia lowered its flags to half-mast on Sunday in observance of a day of mourning.
President Vladimir Putin, who promised to find and punish those responsible for the assault on Friday night that left 180 people injured and 137 people dead, including three children, announced a national day of mourning.
More than a hundred patients were still in the hospital, some of them had serious illnesses. Putin’s spokeswoman said the Interfax news agency that on Sunday night, he honored the deceased by lighting a candle at the church at his home outside of Moscow.
Putin addressed to the country on Saturday, “I express my deep, sincere condolences to all those who lost their loved ones.” “The whole country and our entire people are grieving with you.”
Although Putin has not made reference to the Islamist terrorist organization in relation to the attackers—who he stated were attempting to flee to Ukraine—Da’ish has taken credit for the incident. According to him, there were some on “the Ukrainian side” who were ready to smuggle the shooters over the border.
Ukraine has refuted having any part in the assault.
People laid flowers at Crocus City Hall, the 6,200-seat concert hall outside Moscow where four armed men burst in just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hit “Afraid of Nothing”.
The men fired their automatic weapons in short bursts at terrified civilians who fell screaming in a hail of bullets.
It was the deadliest attack on Russian territory since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, hostage.
Long lines formed in Moscow to donate blood. Blood banks said on Sunday they now had enough blood supplies for four to six months.
Across Moscow, billboards carried a picture of a single candle, the date of the attack and the words “We mourn”. In other cities, people laid flowers.
At the 6,200-seat performance arena outside of Moscow called Crocus City arena, where four armed men broke in shortly before the Soviet-era rock group Picnic was about to perform their hit song “Afraid of Nothing,” people left flowers.
The frightened citizens fell screaming under a shower of gunfire as the men fired short bursts of rounds from their automatic guns.
Since the Beslan school siege in 2004, when Islamist extremists kidnapped over 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, it was the bloodiest incident on Russian soil.
In Moscow, long queues grew to give blood. On Sunday, blood banks said that they now have four to six months’ worth of blood supplies.
Billboards with the words “We mourn” and an image of a lone candle along with the assault date were seen all across Moscow. Others placed flowers in other cities.
Nations from all around the world have expressed shock and sympathy for the Russian people in response to the tragedy.
11 individuals, including the four alleged attackers, were being held, according to Putin. The gunmen escaped the performance hall and traveled to the Bryansk area, which is located 340 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of Moscow.
“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” Putin stated.
The shooters were apprehended close to the border and had links in Ukraine, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
The suspects were brought to the Investigative Committee’s Moscow offices on Sunday in anticipation of their anticipated court appearance, the exact date of which was yet unknown.
After eight years of fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, sparking a massive European war.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, charged that Putin was attempting to shift the responsibility for the attack on the music venue by making reference to Ukraine.
According to the Islamist organization Da’ish’s Amaq agency on Telegram, the attack was carried out, and the group has previously attempted to seize control of large areas of both Syria and Iraq. Da’ish posted what it claimed to be assault video on its Telegram channels on Saturday night.
One of the suspects claimed in video footage that was released by Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels and Russian media that he was paid to carry out the assault.
“I shot people,” the suspect stated in a weak, heavily accented Russian, with his hands bound and his hair held by an interrogator wearing a black boot beneath his chin.
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