A number of movies circulating on-line confirmed concert-goers throwing themselves to the ground, hiding behind seats, or working away searching for an exit to the sounds of gunshots and screaming.
One video confirmed 4 gunmen making their means towards what seemed like an exit, with one stopping to fireplace repeatedly into a gaggle of individuals huddled collectively in a nook. Different photographs circulating on social media confirmed what gave the impression to be the our bodies of victims, mendacity amid piles of shattered glass.
Information of the assault prompted authorities to evacuate malls in Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to cancel public occasions throughout the nation, Russian media reported.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on social media that the assault was a “horrible tragedy,” whereas Russian Overseas Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova known as it a “bloody terrorist assault.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who not too long ago earned a fifth time period in workplace in an election broadly condemned as a sham by Western democracies, had been knowledgeable of the assault. Putin has not publicly addressed the state of affairs but.
It’s unclear who carried out the assault. Ukraine, which has been at warfare with Russia for the reason that Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion two years in the past, denied it was accountable. Mykhailo Podolyak, a spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, mentioned on social media that Ukraine has “nothing to do” with the assault.
