Russia has accused four individuals of carrying out an attack that killed at least 137 people in a concert hall in Moscow.
Four were in wheelchairs, and three were marched into a Moscow court, bent double. They were all accused of carrying out terrorist acts.
The Islamic State group, or IS, released video evidence and claimed responsibility for the outburst that occurred outside Crocus City Hall on Friday.
Without providing any proof, Russian officials have asserted that Ukraine was involved. Kyiv calls the assertion “absurd.”
The Russian authorities identified the four as Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Shamsidin Fariduni, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, and Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev.
Three of them were captured on camera being led into the Russian capital’s Basmanny district court by police wearing masks.
All of them seem to have been assaulted; sources claim at least one of them received electric shocks. Videos of the grueling questioning sessions were reportedly leaked by Russian security services.
The males the court identified as Rachabalizoda and Mirzoyev had black eyes and a tightly bandaged ear, which was presumably from his ear being partially severed during his arrest.
Moreover, Mirzoyev seemed to be wearing a ripped plastic bag around his neck.
The man identified as Fariduni had a severely swollen face, while the man known as Fayzov, who was wheeled into court in a flimsy hospital gown, looked like he was going to pass out.
The news agency Reuters said that he seemed as though one of his eyes was missing.
When they appeared in court, all were escorted into a glass-paneled booth and watched over by cops wearing masks.
In a court statement posted on the messaging app Telegram, it was stated that both Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda had “accepted responsibility in full.”
The males were recognized as Tajikistani nationals, according to Tass, the official news service of Russia.
The court further stated that all four must remain in pre-trial custody until at least May 22.
On Friday night, four assailants broke into the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of northern Moscow, and opened fire on a portion of the about 6,000 attendees of a rock event. Also, the attackers started fires that spread across the venue and brought the roof down.
According to Russian officials, there were at least 137 fatalities and more than 100 injuries.
The men who appeared in court on Sunday were arrested in the Bryansk region around 14 hours after the attack, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said. Bryansk is around 400km (250 miles) south-west of Moscow.
The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for a concert attack in Russia, claiming it was carried out by a branch called IS-K. The group released footage of the attack, which has been verified by the BBC. However, no Russian official has acknowledged the claim, suggesting that the attackers were being helped by Ukraine and that Kyiv had prepared a window for them to cross the border.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the claims, calling them “absurd” to suggest they were trying to cross a heavily mined border. Seven other people have been arrested in Russia, suspected of aiding the attack. The US warned Moscow of a possible attack in Russia earlier this month, but the Kremlin dismissed the alert as propaganda.
(BBC)
