Large ongoing terrorist attack in Moscow

[Vosem]

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1771245991322104273

Easy to find videos of point-blank executions at the Crocus shopping center on social media.

[This user has not been convicted of 34 felonies]

I made the mistake of watching some of the videos. I wouldn't recommend it. This is horrible. My god.

[Storr]

"Three days ago, Putin dismissed U.S. warnings about possible terrorist attacks in Moscow at crowded venues. he said it was “outright blackmail” by the West and an attempt to “intimidate and destabilize our society.”"

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1771245554619572471?s=20

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Almost definitely Chechens, but who knows if that's who Putin will blame.

[Storr]

Almost definitely Chechens, but who knows if that's who Putin will blame.

Ukraine recognized Chechen independence in October 2022. That will probably give Putin enough evidence to tie the attack to Ukraine, using his typical imaginary logic.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Horrifying beyond comprehension.

Lot of darkness in this world…

[TheReckoning]

Any chance it’s pro-Ukrainian agitators?

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Any chance it’s pro-Ukrainian agitators?

If it was, it would be up there with the worst strategic moves in the history of humanity, so I'll say no.

[Storr]

Any chance it’s pro-Ukrainian agitators?

Anything is possible, I suppose. But based on just the type of attack alone, it fits the MO of Chechen terrorists more than Ukrainian intelligence operations. The latter has gone after assassinating individuals involved with perpetuating the war in Ukraine instead of committing mass murder.

"Russian military correspondents quote witnesses as saying the attackers in Moscow are “men with beards and in body armor, of Oriental (Russian for Caucasus or Central Asia) appearance.”"

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1771240938418958800?s=20

[Mike88]

The US, a few weeks ago, seems to have warned of an imminent terrorist attack in Moscow and several embassies were briefed and advised citizens to avoid crowded areas.

[Vosem]

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1771250275279376436

Videos from the inside of the concert venue don't appear to show it very full and there are different accounts of how full it was when the attack happened (and the timing of the explosions versus shooting attacks), but there are likely hundreds of casualties (although only 40 are confirmed). It might have been thousands if the attack happened even a short time later. Lists of missing individuals are circulating on Telegram, as are attempts to identify dead individuals captured on video. VKontakte is currently down.

At least some of the perpetrators remain at large; only 1 arrest has been made and it is apparently not clear if that arrest is even connected to the attack.

The Ukrainian government has denied a connection to the attack.

[Vosem]

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1771255132732190834

RIP, children of Beslan.

[DavidB.]

This is Russia's October 7. Russia will surely hit back, the question is where. Having to fight a two-front war would be a major risk for Putin. Ukraine is almost definitely not to blame, but will very possibly be blamed, while the West seems less and less willing to support Kyiv. This is a very dangerous moment.

[Flyersfan232]

Any chance it’s pro-Ukrainian agitators?

If it was, it would be up there with the worst strategic moves in the history of humanity, so I'll say no.

could be a independent organization of the Ukrainian government.

[DavidB.]

Medvedev speculates about Ukrainian involvement.

https://twitter.com/JonathanHolslag/status/1771260522609914306?s=20

[Vosem]

This is Russia's October 7. Russia will surely hit back, the question is where. Having to fight a two-front war would be a major risk for Putin. Ukraine is almost definitely not to blame, but will very possibly be blamed, while the West seems less and less willing to support Kyiv. This is a very dangerous moment.

I wonder how far away the fire is visible -- the concert venue is about 20 kilometers from the Kremlin. When I was a small child, I could clearly see the smoke from Ground Zero from Brooklyn -- I was about 8 miles (or 13 kilometers) away. In that sense, a large fraction of the population of Moscow and its suburbs are witnesses tonight, probably including very senior members of the government.

I have not had relatives living in Moscow since 2022 (...they're now in Petach Tikva), but I wonder if you would be able to see the fire from the place where they lived, which was in the southeast of the city. I think no -- downtown would get in your way, and it's a pretty large absolute distance -- but maybe, if the night is clear enough.

[Unbeatable Titan Susan Collins]

Just awful,

I agree with others. Highly unlikely Ukraine was involved. Would be out of character and a huge miscalculation.

[Horus]

Sad

[Vosem]

Survivor David Primov gave the following account to BBC's Russian service -- my translation follows:

Мы были на балконе, наверху. До начала концерта оставалось минут 10, уже было собрано много людей, 70 процентов зала было собрано. В какой-то момент мы услышали, как мне показалось, звуки салюта. И мой товарищ, который со мной был на концерте, он тоже говорит: «Салюты, что ли?» И после этого мы увидели, как по нижней части зала, ближе к сцене, люди идут толпой, как паровозиком. Я не понял, что это.

После этого звуки «салюта» стали еще громче и ближе, началась паника огромная в зале, люди начали разбегаться в разные стороны, но сталкивались друг с другом, эвакуации никакой не было. Далее перестрелка началась уже в концертном зале, внизу, в левой части сцены, я увидел линию огня, которая шла по людям. Все начали ложиться [на пол], мы начали в проходе ложиться друг на друга, мы начали координировать толпу, чтобы продвигались вперед. При этом мы понимали, что с автоматами могут зайти с любой двери, и пытались двигаться к ближайшему выходу наверх. Медленно, гуськом, ползком, вперед, наверх мы выползли [из зала]. И начали выбираться [из «Крокус Сити Холла»].

Где-то были еще слышны звуки выстрелов, туда было совершенно небезопасно бежать. Побежали в техническую часть «Крокуса», в сторону балконов. И упирались просто в разные закрытые двери, люди паникуют, кто-то рыдает, кто-то звонит родным, кто-то ждет лифт, который не работал. В общем, мы оказались в большом темном помещении. Когда мы выходили, пожар уже начинался — мы ощущали запах дыма и гари. [Всего на то, чтобы выйти] у нас ушло минут 20-25. То есть пожар начался в первые 15 минут после атаки. В итоге мы нашли какую-то техническую лестницу, нам пришлось выламывать дверь, потому что двери везде были закрыты. На улице все начали разбегаться в разные стороны, и уже на тот момент я видел огромные клубы дыма. Пробегая мимо парадной части «Крокуса», я видел, как люди бегали и стучали по окнам, не зная, как выйти, потому что все остальные двери были закрыты.

Про нападавших: это была однозначно группа людей, было много очередей автоматных. Они были то ли в коричневой одежде, то ли в коричневых жилетах. Мы были на балконе, а стрелявшие были около сцены — довольно далеко от нас. И были именно автоматные очереди по толпе людей — и они шли от входа в зал по партеру в сторону сцены, загоняя людей в центр зала.

We were on the balcony, towards the top. There were 10 minutes left before the start of the concert, and many people had already gathered; 70% of the concert hall was full. At a certain moment we heard what seemed to me to be the sound of fireworks. My friend, who was at the concert with me, asked, "Is that fireworks?" After this we saw, at the bottom part of the concert hall, closer to the stage, there were people moving like a steam engine*. I didn't understand what was happening.

After the sound of the "fireworks" became louder and closer, there was enormous panic in the concert hall. People began to run in all directions and to run into each other; there was no organized evacuation. After the shooting began in the concert hall, at the bottom, I saw a row of people being shot, at the left part of the stage. Everybody lay down [on the floor], and in the corridor we began to lay on each other, and the crowd coordinated to move forward. While this was happening we understood that people with submachine guns could enter from any door, and we tried to move towards the exits on higher floors. Slowly, in single file, crawling, upwards we crawled [out of the concert hall]. And we began to get out [of the Crocus city hall].

Somewhere we could still hear the sound of gunshots; in that direction it was totally dangerous to run. We ran into the backstage part of the Crocus, towards the balconies. We leaned on different closed doors, people panicked. Some wept, some called their relatives, some waited for the elevators, but these didn't work. We ended up in a large dark space. When we were led out, the fire had already started -- we could taste the smoke and ash. [All in all, to get out] took us around 20-25 minutes. This is to say that the fire began around 15 minutes after the attack. At the end we found some sort of employees' staircase, and we had to break the door, because the doors everywhere were locked. On the street we began to run in every direction, and by that moment I had seen the enormous smoke clouds. Running past the entrance part of the Crocus, I could see people running and banging on windows, not understanding how to get out, because so many doors were locked.

About the attackers: this was clearly a group of people who understood how to handle submachine guns. They were in brown clothing, or maybe they were wearing brown jackets. We were on the balcony, and they were shooting by the stage -- relatively far from us. They were shooting people in rows -- they worked from the edges of the concert hall towards the middle, trying to herd people into the middle of the space.

*I don't actually know how to say this in English -- "to move like a steam engine" means in single-file, holding on to the person in front of you while the person behind you holds on to you. Used for, eg, schoolchildren on field trips so no one gets lost. Americans have a stricter sense of personal space and this is not taught to children, but you encounter the expression in works of Russian media.

[President Johnson]

Any chance it’s pro-Ukrainian agitators?

I doubt, but at least I hope not. That would only harm the cause of Ukraine overall. You can be angry at Putin and his military, attacking civilan targets in Moscow is the wrong way to go. Two wrongs don't make a right. But I really don't think it's related to Ukraine. It wouldn't be the first time Russia is attacked by Islamists.

[Hindsight was 2020]

URGENTLY

A source from the Cheka-OGPU says that natives of Ingushetia have been put on the wanted list on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Crocus:

Gurazhev Amirkhan 1989

Ozdoev Adam 1987

Tsuroev Zelimkhan 2000

So as suspected it was an attack by Ingushetians
https://t.me/vchkogpu/46837

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Absolutely dreadful.

[Horus]

URGENTLY

A source from the Cheka-OGPU says that natives of Ingushetia have been put on the wanted list on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Crocus:

Gurazhev Amirkhan 1989

Ozdoev Adam 1987

Tsuroev Zelimkhan 2000

So as suspected it was an attack by Ingushetians
https://t.me/vchkogpu/46837

I'm sure Russian leadership will still find a way to make this about Ukraine. What will their reasoning be?

[Flyersfan232]

URGENTLY

A source from the Cheka-OGPU says that natives of Ingushetia have been put on the wanted list on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Crocus:

Gurazhev Amirkhan 1989

Ozdoev Adam 1987

Tsuroev Zelimkhan 2000

So as suspected it was an attack by Ingushetians
https://t.me/vchkogpu/46837

who?

[Hindsight was 2020]

URGENTLY

A source from the Cheka-OGPU says that natives of Ingushetia have been put on the wanted list on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Crocus:

Gurazhev Amirkhan 1989

Ozdoev Adam 1987

Tsuroev Zelimkhan 2000

So as suspected it was an attack by Ingushetians
https://t.me/vchkogpu/46837

I'm sure Russian leadership will still find a way to make this about Ukraine. What will their reasoning be?

ISIS members in all likelihood