Russia Moscow terror trial with over 140 dead begins
Following the Islamist terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall that left more than 140 people dead, a Russian military court is trying the suspected attackers and accomplices.
04.08.2025, 15:58
SDA
The start of the mammoth trial against 19 defendants in the large building of the Moscow City Court took place in public, as reported by the Russian state news agency Tass. Afterwards, however, the trial was to be held in closed session.
According to the indictment, four armed men broke into the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of Moscow more than a year ago on March 22, 2024. They shot at visitors to a concert by the Russian rock band Piknik and set fire to the building. Part of the building collapsed.
Different figures are circulating in the Russian media regarding the number of victims killed. Tass, citing the General Prosecutor's Office, wrote of 149 dead and one missing person. The Interfax news agency also referred to the authority, but wrote of 147 dead and 3 missing. More than 330 people were injured.
Attackers come from Tajikistan
The attackers, men from the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan, fled in a car and were caught in the Russian region of Bryansk near the border with Ukraine and Belarus. Immediately afterwards, the Russian judiciary brought them before the public, with at least one man showing signs of torture.
The suspected accomplices also come from former Soviet Central Asia. They are said to have provided the terrorists with money, cars or weapons or harbored them. Six other suspects are still being sought.
Russia has been rocked by Islamist terrorist attacks several times in recent decades. The attack on Crocus City Hall was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia through its known channels. Western security authorities and experts consider the claim to be credible and suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Province of Khorasan (ISPK) to be behind the attack.
Russia follows alleged Ukrainian trail
Moscow state representatives right up to President Vladimir Putin also assume an IS attack. At the same time, the Russian authorities have tried from the outset to pin the blame on alleged Ukrainian masterminds. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against its neighboring country for almost three and a half years. No conclusive evidence has been presented and the government in Kiev has denied any involvement.
However, according to Tass, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office also assumes for the trial that the attack was organized "in the interests of Ukraine's top leadership". Three cells of the Islamic State Khorasan Province group had been formed in Russia.
Half of the victims died of burns
According to reports, at least 115 victims are also involved in the trial as joint plaintiffs. The General Prosecutor's Office had already given the state agency Tass an insight into the indictment in recent days. Around half of the victims are said to have died from burns rather than gunshot wounds. Although the criminal trial was announced, its start was kept secret until Sunday.
