Putin vows punishment as death toll soars to 133 in Moscow terrorist attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to track down and punish those behind the “bloody and barbaric” terrorist attack in a concert hall outside Moscow as the death toll has soared to 133, according to Russian authorities.

Russia's state Investigative Committee said on Saturday that 133 people had been killed in the attack. More than 150 people have also been injured in the attack.

The Investigative Committee said the death toll is even feared to rise further given the scale of destruction inflicted on the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region.

Emergency services continue to dig through the rubble of the building, which was partially destroyed in a massive fire set off by the attackers.

According to Russian authorities, at least four men armed with assault rifles stormed the hall on Friday evening ahead of a rock concert.

The attackers entered the concert hall and shot civilians on sight at point-blank range, and set it on fire.

Following the massacre, the suspects fled the scene but were later on apprehended by Russian law enforcement near the Ukraine border.

The Russian authorities said the preliminary findings showed that the attackers were attempting to cross into Ukraine.

The FSB security service said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border. It said they were being transferred to Moscow.

Putin: ‘All perpetrators, organizers will be punished’

In a televised address on Saturday, President Putin said 11 people had been arrested, including the four gunmen who carried out the attack.

"They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," he said.

The Russian president declared a national day of mourning on Sunday, March 24, to commemorate the victims of the attack.

Putin said that “all the perpetrators, organizers and those who ordered this crime will be justly and inevitably punished.”

“Whoever they are, whoever is guiding them," Putin added.  

"We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this strike against Russia, against our people," the Russian leader announced.

Putin expressed his gratitude to all first responders, to law enforcement, and to ordinary citizens, too, who helped the victims of the attack.

”In Moscow and Moscow Region, in all regions of the country, additional anti-terrorism and anti-saboteur measures have been introduced,” he announced.

“The main thing now is to prevent those who are behind this bloodbath from committing a new crime,” he said.

Raeisi tells Putin Iran stands with Russia after terrorist attack in Moscow

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi has called for serious action by the international community to punish the "masterminds and perpetrators" of a terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall.   

Daesh claims responsibility for the massacre

The Takfiri Daesh militant group claimed responsibility for Friday's massacre in the concert hall, the group's Amaq agency said on Telegram.

Daesh said its fighters attacked the concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, "killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely". The statement gave no further details.

On Saturday it released a photograph of what it said were the four attackers.

A US official said the United States has intelligence confirming Daesh's claim of responsibility for the shooting.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity said Washington had warned Moscow "appropriately" in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.

US had forewarning of the attack: Analyst

American writer and political commentator Daniel Patrick Welch has expressed suspicions that the United States might have known about the terrorist attack before it happened.

“The US warned its own citizens in Russia to avoid large gatherings, 'including concerts,’” Welch told the Press TV website.

“They obviously had forewarning of the attack - or maybe had masterminded it behind the scenes,” he said.

“Nothing is too far-fetched. From the Nordstream pipeline disaster to the NATO officers ripped out of the underground Azovstal bunker in Mariupol,” he said.

"Every step of this carnage is sadly familiar and a repetition of patterns from any of the coups against Mossadegh, Arbenz, Allende, Chavez...it's a sickening, sordid history. And with hardly any script changes, it always originates in Langley," he said, referring to the US headquarters of its intelligence services.

"They think they can always hide behind the scam they call 'plausible deniability,'" Welch continued. "It is a well-toned craft sharpened over many uses. The trick is to shift blame around among any of the demonized usual suspects - many of which are already proxies secretly created by the same intelligence services."

"It's like a cynical Three Card Monty," Welch added, a common street gambling game that asks the mark to guess which cup the ball is under.

"The only good thing is that most of the world finally sees these guys for the street hustlers they are,” he said.

“It is no secret and has long been clear to anyone with the least knowledge of history or an IQ above room temperature.  The Ukraine trap is all a NATO and US operation from beginning to end.  It's just mind-boggling,” he noted.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk