Russia, Moscow: ‘Hostile state planned 2024 concert hall attack’

Moscow (Russia), 22 Mar. (LaPresse/AP) – One year after the attack on the Moscow concert hall in which 145 people died, Russian officials have stated that it was planned and organised by the ‘special services of a hostile state’. The objective, according to a statement by Svetlana Petrenko, representative of the Russian Investigative Committee, was to ‘destabilise the situation in Russia’. Although she did not specify which ‘hostile state’ this was, she noted that ‘six Central Asian citizens’ currently outside Russia were charged in absentia and placed on the wanted list for alleged recruitment and for having organised the training of four of the suspected perpetrators. The four men, all identified by the media as Tajikistani nationals, appeared in a Moscow court at the end of March last year on charges of terrorism and showed signs of having been severely beaten. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. According to Petrenko, 19 people are currently in custody in Russia in connection with the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow.