According to certain sources, some of the perpetrators of Friday’s attack barricaded themselves inside the building.

The Russian Ministry of Culture issued a statement canceling all public performances and gatherings nationwide. Earlier such events had been also canceled across Moscow.

What if it’s not ISIS

Some Russian media outlets are emphasizing that ISIS used an old template in the entry, which is why they are considering this information may be fake news.

In an interview with Dozhd TV, journalist Christo Grozhev stressed that if not ISIS but the Russian Volunteer Corps or some Ukrainian forces are identified as the perpetrator of the attack, the situation will become more complicated.

In such a case, it would be much more likely that these accusations would be crafted by the FSB, one of the motives could be to create conditions for widespread mobilization, the journalist added.

It’s a mistake to forget ISIS

“Most of us have stopped paying attention to the Islamic State or ISIS because it no longer controls significant parts of Iraq and Syria, however, it remains a powerful force in many parts of the world including West Africa, Mozambique… It’s a mistake to forget ISIS,” Profesor Daniel Pipes told TVP World in an exclusive interview.

“I have no idea whether it was ISIS in Russia now, but it is certainly possible,” he added.

Another TVP World guest, Dr Harel Chorev, fully agreed with Profesor Pipes. However, he stressed that it is necessary to add that “Jihadists do not need a certain issue… to act. They act because they are Jihadists.”

“Jihadists simply work according to their own logic and this logic is attack, attack, attack, and exploit any operational opportunity that gives you, the ability to hurt your enemy,” Dr Chorev further pointed out.