Four individuals accused of orchestrating the Russia concert hall assault that led to the loss of over 130 lives made an appearance in a Moscow courtroom on Sunday displaying visible signs of severe physical abuse as they confronted formal charges of terrorism. One of them seemed to be barely conscious during the proceedings.
In a formal session at Moscow's Basmanny District Court, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, were officially accused of perpetrating a collective act of terrorism resulting in fatalities. This crime carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment.
The court ruled that the accused, all Tajikistan nationals, should remain in custody until May 22 for further investigation.
The trial of the suspects in the deadly concert venue attack
During the trial, the fourth suspect, Faizov, arrived at the court in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown and trousers. He sat with his eyes closed and was attended by medics due to multiple cuts on his body.
Court officials revealed that two of the suspects, Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda, confessed to the attack after being charged.
The trial took place on a national day of mourning in Russia, following the tragic attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, which claimed the lives of at least 137 people.
Deadliest attack in years on Russian soil
The attack at the concert venue, which has been attributed to an affiliate of the Islamic State group, marks the deadliest assault on Russian territory in recent memory.
Russian authorities apprehended four suspected attackers, with an additional seven individuals detained on suspicion of involvement in the incident. President Vladimir Putin stated that the suspects were captured while attempting to flee to Ukraine, a claim that Kyiv vehemently refuted.
Events at cultural institutions were canceled Sunday, flags were lowered to half staff and television entertainment and advertising were suspended, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. A steady stream of people added to a makeshift memorial near the burned-out concert hall, creating a huge mound of flowers.
"People came to a concert, some people came to relax with their families, and any one of us could have been in that situation. And I want to express my condolences to all the families that were affected here and I want to pay tribute to these people," Andrey Kondakov, one of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the memorial, told AP.
"It is a tragedy that has affected our entire country," kindergarten employee Marina Korshunova said. "It just doesn't even make sense that small children were affected by this event." Three children were among the dead.
Rescuers continued to search the damaged building and the death toll rose as more bodies were found as family and friends of some of those still missing waiting for news. Moscow's Department of Health said Sunday it had begun identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, saying the process would take at least two weeks.
Igor Pogadaev was desperately seeking any details about his wife, Yana Pogadaeva, who went to the attack concert. The last he heard from her was when she sent him two photos from the Crocus City Hall music venue.
"After searching everywhere, asking everyone, and showing photographs, no one saw or knew anything," Pogadaev mentioned in a video message to AP.
Witnessing flames engulfing the building, he frantically dialed a hotline for victims' relatives but received no updates.
With the death toll rising, Pogodaev visited hospitals in Moscow and the Moscow region in search of information on new patients.
The Moscow Region's Emergency Situations Ministry shared a video on Sunday depicting the dismantling of equipment at the damaged music venue to aid rescuers.
Putin labeled the incident as "a bloody, barbaric terrorist act" and stated that Russian authorities apprehended four suspects attempting to flee to Ukraine through a prepared "window" on the Ukrainian border.
Russian media aired videos showing the detention and questioning of the suspects, with one confessing on camera that he was recruited by an unidentified assistant to an Islamic preacher through a messaging app and paid to participate in the attack.
Putin's speech to the nation did not mention IS, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia's fight in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.
U.S. intelligence officials said they had confirmed the IS affiliate's claim.
"ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever," National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
The U.S. shared information with Russia in early March about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow, and issued a public warning to Americans in Russia, Watson said.
The raid was a major embarrassment for Putin and happened just days after he cemented his grip on the country for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet times.
Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warnings.
IS, which fought against Russia during its intervention in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted Russia. In a statement posted by the group's Aamaq news agency, the IS Afghanistan affiliate said that it had attacked a large gathering of "Christians" in Krasnogorsk.
In a recent statement released on Aamaq, a group of individuals carried out an attack using automatic rifles, a pistol, knives, and firebombs. The assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, framing the incident as part of the ongoing conflict between the Islamic State group and countries they perceive as anti-Islam.
Back in October 2015, IS planted a bomb that brought down a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, resulting in the tragic deaths of all 224 individuals on board, many of whom were Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, primarily active in Syria and Iraq with presence in Afghanistan and Africa, has also taken credit for various assaults in Russia's volatile Caucasus and other regions in previous years. They have enlisted fighters from Russia and other areas of the former Soviet Union.
