Shocked Russians took flowers and teddy bears on Saturday to the Crocus City concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, to pay their respects to the 133 people who died in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Mourners hung flowers on fences and piled them on the ground a short distance from the concert hall where gunmen opened fire on a crowd and set off explosives that started a large fire.
Earlier, Russian state TV editor Margarita Simonyan said the death toll had climbed to 143 but did not give the source of her information. Russia’s state investigative committee later said 133 people had been killed.
Russia said on Saturday it had arrested 11 people including four suspected gunmen in connection with the attack.
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Russia’s Investigative Committee earlier said some people died from gunshot wounds and others in the huge fire that broke out in the complex. Reports said the gunmen had lit the blaze using petrol from canisters they carried in rucksacks.
People fled in panic. Baza, a news outlet with good contacts in Russian security and law enforcement, said 28 bodies were found in a toilet and 14 on a staircase. “Many mothers were found embracing their children,” it said.
Amid the grief, firefighters pulled bodies from the rubble and worked to put out the flames.
Videos on social media showed candles and flowers being laid in memory of the dead and wounded at monuments across Russia and at Russian embassies abroad.
The attack happened just days after Russian president Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power by securing a record-breaking fifth term after harshly suppressing opposition voices during a highly choreographed election.
The attack is the deadliest in Russia in years and left the concert hall a ruin and claimed the lives of at least three children.
Although Islamic State claimed responsibility, Mr Putin pointed the finger of blame at Ukraine, where Russia is waging a war that has dragged into its third year. He gave no evidence for his claims.
[ Worldwide condemnation of the terror attack in MoscowOpens in new window ]
Mr Putin said on Saturday that the four men who carried out the attack were heading towards Ukraine when they were detained, and that they hoped to cross the border.
The Russian president, addressing the nation, said that some people on the Ukrainian side had prepared to let them cross the border from Russia. Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack.
Mr Putin cast the enemy as “international terrorism” and said that he was ready to work with any state which wanted to defeat it.
“All the perpetrators, organisers and those who ordered this crime will be justly and inevitably punished. Whoever they are, whoever is guiding them,” Putin said. “We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this strike against Russia, against our people.”
The FSB security service said “all four terrorists” had been arrested while heading to the Ukrainian border, and that they had contacts in Ukraine. It said they were being transferred to Moscow.
“Now we know in which country these bloody b******s planned to hide from pursuit – Ukraine,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
A senior Russian lawmaker, Andrei Kartapolov, said that if Ukraine was involved, then Russia must deliver a “worthy, clear and concrete” reply on the battlefield.
Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said: “Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack. Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers’ army and military targets, not civilians.”
He said the FSB version that the suspects were arrested en route to Ukraine was “of course another lie from the Russian special services”.
US intelligence officials confirmed the claim by Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate that it was responsible for the attack, a US official said.
As the death toll climbed and Mr Putin ordered stepped-up security across the country, some Russians had questions.
“There are cameras everywhere that can trace opposition people going to a rally, and they are also stopped in the metro. But basic security did not work in a public event,” said Ekaterina in Moscow, referring to the crackdown in advance of the election. She declined to give her surname because of security concerns.
“Does it mean that cameras are targeted on people who carry a book, but you can carry a bomb or a Kalashnikov, and that will be okay?” she asked, referring to social media footage that showed the assailants in the concert hall with automatic weapons.
Russian state television focused on condolences from foreign leaders and the outpouring of grief across Russia. It shared images of the suspects and pictured officials visiting hospitals and directing the clean-up operation.
“I woke up this morning and decided I definitely have to come here,” a man named Mikhail said near the concert hall. “There is no word for such scum, what they did is a terrible thing.”
“I couldn’t stop crying,” said Elvira, adding that she woke on Saturday and was “so depressed” by the rapidly increasing death toll.
Russian news agencies showed people lining up to donate blood. They said more than 3,000 people had already donated for victims of the attack.
Despite blanket coverage, state television lacked key information, which sent some pro-western Russians looking elsewhere for details.
“It’s ridiculous because it happened in my city, and I was asking friends who live abroad,” Ekaterina said.
“Some of my friends believe in the idea of Ukrainian interference, but I can’t imagine that it could be the truth,” said Elvira and several other Russians who spoke to the media.
Instead, they questioned why the attack had not been thwarted by Russian security services.
[ What is Isis-K and why did they attack a Moscow theatre?Opens in new window ]
“Why is it that they say that there were warnings from foreign security services, but our services were completely indifferent?” asked a woman in Moscow named Olga, referring to reports that western governments had warned Russian officials that an attack was being planned.
“How can this happen in 2024?” – AP