At least 40 people were killed and more than a hundred injured, on Friday evening, in a shooting followed by a huge fire in a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow where several armed men entered, according to the authorities who condemn "a bloody terrorist attack."
The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, denounced a "bloody terrorist attack" and a "monstrous crime". Ukraine and a unit of pro-Ukraine fighters responsible for recent armed cross-border incursions have denied any responsibility for the attack.
The assault by several armed individuals took place in the evening at the Crocus City Hall, a concert hall located in Krasnogorsk, a suburb just northwest of the Russian capital.
A journalist from AFP saw the building caught in a vast fire, with plumes of black smoke escaping from the roof, as well as a very significant presence of police and emergency services, whose blue flashing lights lit up the night by the dozens.
According to a journalist from the public news agency Ria Novosti, individuals in camouflage outfits burst onto the floor of the concert hall before opening fire and throwing "a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which caused a fire".
"People in the hall lay down on the floor to protect themselves from the shots for 15 to 20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out," said the journalist from Ria Novosti.
The emergency services, quoted by the Interfax agency, reported a "group of two to five unidentified individuals wearing tactical uniforms and armed with automatic weapons" who "opened fire on the security agents at the entrance of the concert hall" and then "started firing at the audience".
According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters managed to evacuate about a hundred people who were in the basement of the concert hall. Operations are underway to "save people on the roof of the building using lifting equipment".
The Mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, announced the cancellation of all public events.
This attack occurred during a concert by the Russian rock group Piknik, whose members were evacuated, TASS agency further reported.
The Telegram news channels Baza and Mash, reputedly close to law enforcement, published videos showing at least two armed men advancing in the hall and others on which one can see corpses and groups of people rushing towards the exit.
Other images show spectators hiding behind seats or evacuating the concert hall.
The White House is "in thoughts alongside the victims of the terrible attack" in a concert hall in Moscow, said a spokesperson for the U.S. presidency, talking about "horrible and hard-to-watch images". It indicated having "no indication at this stage that Ukraine or Ukrainians were involved".
An adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podoliak, affirmed that Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian military offensive for two years, "has absolutely nothing to do" with the shooting, which he described as a "terrorist act".
A unit of anti-Kremlin Russian fighters responsible for several armed incursions into the Russian border in recent months, the Russian Freedom Legion, also denied any involvement. "The Legion does not fight Russian civilians," the group assured.
The former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assured that Moscow would kill the Ukrainian leaders if it turned out they are involved in this attack. An investigation for "terrorist act" has been opened.
The U.S. Embassy in Russia had warned two weeks ago its citizens that "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts".
"If the United States has or had reliable data on this, they must immediately transmit it to the Russian side," Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
Russia has been the target of numerous attacks in the past committed by Islamist groups but also of shootings without political motive or attributed to unstable individuals.
In 2002, Chechen fighters had taken 912 people hostage in the Moscow theater of Dubrovka to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
The hostage-taking ended with an assault by special forces, and the death of 130 people, almost all asphyxiated by the gas used by the law enforcement.