Telegram channels close to Russian power structures reported adding that a fire broke out in the building, and the roof partially collapsed. There are reports of another explosion.
The group of attackers numbers between two and five people, Russian media report. According to witnesses, the attack on the Krasnogorsk concert hall was carried out by “five bearded men” some of whom were carrying backpacks.
Russian special units have launched an assault on the concert hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow, the SOTA news service reports.
According to certain sources, some of the perpetrators of Friday’s attack barricaded themselves inside the building.
TASS added that machine guns were used in the shooting, adding that According to eyewitnesses, there were many injured and dead.
A video posted online by Russian news agencies showed billowing clouds of smoke and flames rising from the venue building. The Russian agency reported that people remain inside the building, which is almost completely engulfed in flames.
Rescue operation underway
About 100 people were rescued by firefighters from the basement of the burning building. However, people are supposedly still trapped in the burning building.
Special units of Russia’s National Guard as well as police and firefighters are currently on the scene.
“I gave orders to provide all necessary assistance to everyone who suffered during the incident,” Moscow’s mayor said according to CNN.
He said that “all large-scale sporting, cultural, and other public events will be canceled in Moscow this weekend after the shooting incident,” and security measures have been stepped up at airports and train stations
Poland condemns any form of terrorism
“The heads of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the coordinator of special services are keeping me informed about the circumstances of the attack in Moscow and the possible consequences for the situation in the region and the country’s [Poland’s] security,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media after the attack.
In turn, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said earlier that evening, that the ministry does not yet have information about the shooting in Krasnogorsk near Moscow. He added that Poland condemns terrorism in all its forms.
“Poland, of course, condemns terrorism in any form,” he told TVN24 news channel.
The minister was asked about the consequences of the shooting in reference to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's declaration that a "special military operation" had turned into a war, and that the "collective West" had become "its participant on the side of Ukraine."
“I think it’s not worth speculating, because we don’t have enough data yet. As for Minister Peskov’s statement that this is a war - after 2 years they have figured it out - it only causes me the following reflection: in view of this, will the Russian authorities release from prison those who have previously said that this is a war and not a military operation?” he told TVN24.
Kyiv warns of Kremlin provocation
According to Andriy Yusov of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service (HUR), the attack on a concert hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow is a deliberate provocation by the Putin regime.
“This is a deliberate provocation by Putin’s special services, which the international community warned against. The Kremlin tyrant started his career with this, and with the same crimes against his own citizens he wants to end it,” Yusov told Ukrainska Pravda news service.
Russia rejects U.S. warnings
The Medusa channel on Telegram recalls that on March 19, Vladimir Putin rejected warnings to him from U.S. diplomats about a planned terrorist attack on a crowded venue in Moscow.
The Russian president referred to the Americans’ warnings as “blackmail” from the West and an attempt to “intimidate and destabilize our society.”
