A Moscow court has delivered guilty verdicts for 19 individuals involved in the tragic shooting incident at a concert hall in 2024, which resulted in the deaths of 149 people and left more than 600 injured, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the city in recent memory.
The attack, carried out by a faction of the Islamic State group on March 22, 2024, took place at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, where four gunmen opened fire on attendees awaiting a performance by a popular rock band before setting the venue ablaze.
The court sentenced all 19 defendants, with 15 receiving life imprisonment, one handed a 22.5-year sentence, and three others each given 19 years and 11 months behind bars. The life-term convicts will serve a portion of their sentences in a standard prison and the remainder in a specialized regime penal colony as per the verdict.
The trial commenced in August 2025 in a military court, customary for terrorism-related cases, and was conducted in secrecy due to security concerns.
President Vladimir Putin and Russian authorities have alleged, without substantiating evidence, that Ukraine played a role in the attack, an accusation strongly refuted by Kyiv. The Russian Investigative Committee stated that the assault was orchestrated to destabilize Russia by the current leadership of Ukraine, adding that the four suspected assailants attempted to flee to Ukraine post-incident.
The perpetrators, all Tajikistan nationals, were apprehended shortly after the attack and later appeared in a Moscow court displaying signs of severe physical abuse. Co-defendants included individuals who facilitated the gunmen with a car and accommodation, along with ten others linked to terrorism, as reported by the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona.