The number of victims of Friday’s attack in Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow, where terrorists opened fire, already reaches 140 people. There was an explosion in the building and a fire broke out. The concert hall is being cleared of debris. The Islamic terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. However, on Saturday, the FSB announced the arrest of terrorists in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine. It was found that they intended to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border. Everything indicates that Russia will want to shift responsibility for the attack on Kiev. In the afternoon, Vladimir Putin gave a speech – he promised to punish those behind the attack and said that the terrorists tried to escape to Ukraine.

The Russian Interior Ministry denied the information that the detained were citizens of the Russian Federation. They are all foreigners. In addition, the migration units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in cooperation with the FSB, determine the duration of stay of each detainee on Russian territory. According to the BAZA channel, FSB officers were tasked by their superiors to capture alive all the people involved in the terrorist attack. At the scene of the attack, they found the phone number of one of the attackers

The Russian president called Friday’s events a „bloody and barbaric act of terrorism.” He also announced that March 24 would be a day of national mourning throughout Russia. The head of the FSB announced the detention of 11 people, including four terrorists involved in the terrorist attack. „After committing a terrorist act, the criminals intended to cross the border between Russia and Ukraine and had appropriate contacts on the Ukrainian side,” the FSB reported.

Russian media avoid reporting information about ISIS admitting to the attack near Moscow. The main information centers favorable to the Kremlin are silent about it. In many Russian cities, entertainment venues have been evacuated and further public events are being cancelled.

For the Russian authorities, however, it does not matter who actually committed the attack, what is important is that Putin has obtained an excuse both to intensify the war with Ukraine and to accelerate the introduction of totalitarian rule in Russia.