Moscow concert hall attack: What do we know so far?

At least 133 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured after gunmen opened fire and set off explosives at a concert hall on the western edge of Moscow.

Crocus City Hall

The Russian capital is a sprawling city that is home to some 12 million people.

The Crocus City Hall, which includes a shopping centre and conference venue, lies in suburban Krasnogorsk, about 20km (12 miles) west of the Kremlin and alongside the Moscow ring road.

Opened in 2009, the concert hall is a popular entertainment venue with a capacity for 6,200 people.

Former United States President Donald Trump once held a Miss Universe contest there.

The attack

The attack began on Friday evening just as people were taking their seats for a sold-out show by Picnic, a popular rock band from the Soviet era.

As many as five men in combat fatigues entered the concert hall and opened fire on those inside.

Dave Primov, who was in the hall during the attack, described chaotic scenes.

“There were volleys of gunfire,” Primov told The Associated Press news agency. “We all got up and tried to move toward the aisles. People began to panic, started to run and collided with each other. Some fell down and others trampled on them.”

The attackers also set off explosives that ignited a huge blaze that at one point covered as much as 12,900 square metres (139,000sq ft), according to Russian news agency Interfax.

Graphic videos posted on social media showed the gunmen firing repeatedly as they entered the building, and shooting people at point-blank range.

Another video showed a man in the auditorium saying the attackers had set it on fire.

Helicopters were brought in to douse the flames from the air, as firefighters battled the blaze from the ground. The fire was eventually brought under control early on Saturday.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said firefighters helped about 100 people escape through the building’s basement, while rescue operations were also launched for people trapped on the roof.

TASS news agency said the band members of Picnic were not harmed and were evacuated safely.

Hunt for the attackers

Russia’s Investigative Committee, the top state criminal investigation agency, opened a “terrorist” investigation into the attack and the national guard, Rosgvardia, was among units deployed to search for the gunmen.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s security council and a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, has said the Moscow attack shows how serious the threat of terrorism is to Russia, TASS reported.

He added that those who carried out the attack would be held to account.

Russia’s FSB security service has told Putin that 11 people have been detained, including four people directly involved in the attack, Interfax cited the Kremlin as saying.

At least two suspects were arrested in the Bryansk region, some 340km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow, following a car chase, said politician Alexander Khinshtein, citing “preliminary information”. Other suspects fled into a nearby forest and are being pursued, he added.

The Kremlin did not immediately blame anyone for the attack, but some Russian politicians were quick to accuse Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied Ukraine’s involvement.

“Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods,” he posted on X. “Everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield.”