At least 40 killed as gunmen open fire at concert venue in Moscow
At least 40 people have been killed after gunmen burst into a concert hall in Moscow and fired at the crowd, according to Russia’s FSB security service.
The gunmen, wearing combat fatigues, also caused a huge blaze at the Crocus City Hall. Russian media reported the venue’s roof was collapsing.
The attack, which Russian authorities are investigating as terrorism, is Russia’s deadliest in recent years.
More than 100 were wounded, the FSB said. Russian media said children were among the dead, citing a Russian MP.
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Gunmen burst into concert hall
Footage taken inside the auditorium shows up to four gunmen firing automatic weapons as people crouch and hide behind seats.
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A Russian National Guard serviceman in front of the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue. Pic: AP
Russian authorities at the scene. Pic: Reuters
In other videos posted by Russian media and Telegram channels, extended rounds of gunfire could be heard while men with rifles moved through the venue’s mall.
Russian news reports said the attackers threw explosives, triggering the massive blaze at the venue, where flames and plumes of black smoke could be seen rising into the air.
Reports said concertgoers were being evacuated but an unknown number could have been trapped by the blaze.
All tickets in the 6,200-seat concert hall for a performance by Soviet-era rock group Picnic had been sold out.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the raid.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the attack as a “huge tragedy” and cancelled all mass gatherings scheduled for the weekend.
Russian authorities said security had been tightened at Moscow’s airports and railway stations.
Emergency service vehicles at the scene. Pic: Reuters
Thick black smoke rises into the sky from the Crocus City Hall concert venue. Pic: AP
President Vladimir Putin was receiving regular updates about the shooting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Two weeks ago the US embassy in Russia warned “extremists have imminent plans to attack large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts”.
It issued the warning several hours after the FSB said it had foiled an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by an Islamic State cell.
Russian authorities stand guard. Pic: Reuters
Men cover themselves with blankets near the burning venue. Pic: Reuters
Russian special operations forces near Crocus City Hall. Pic: Reuters
White House national security adviser John Kirby said he could not yet speak about all the details but that “the images are just horrible. And just hard to watch”.
Mr Kirby said there was “no indication at this time that Ukraine, Ukrainians were involved”.
But Russia said if the US knew for sure Ukraine was not involved then it should share any information it had.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “On what basis do officials in Washington draw any conclusions in the midst of a tragedy about someone’s innocence?”
She said if Washington had information it should be shared and if it had no information it should not be talking in such a way.
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Kyiv had nothing to do with the attack.
“Let’s be straight about this: Ukraine had absolutely nothing to do with these events,” Mr Podolyak said.
“We have a full-scale, all-out war with the Russian regular army and with the Russian Federation as a country. And
regardless of everything, everything will be decided on the battlefield.”
It comes days after Mr Putin secured his fifth term as Russia’s president in an electoral landslide.
Russia was shaken by a series of deadly terror attacks in the early 2000s as it fought separatists in the Russian province of Chechnya.
In October 2002 Chechen militants took around 800 people hostage at a theatre in Moscow which was stormed by Russian special forces two days later, leaving 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters dead, most from the effects of the gas Russian forces used to subdue the attackers.
In September 2004 around 30 Chechen militants seized hundreds of hostages at a school in southern Russia. The siege ended in a bloodbath two days later with more than 330 people, about half of them children, killed.
World
Israel kills 22 people including nine children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
Israel killed 22 people – including nine children – in strikes on Gaza City today, Palestinian officials have said.
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the killings as a “horrific massacre”.
Video purportedly from the scene of the attack on the Souq Firas area of the city showed the bodies of children being pulled from rubble.
“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign – it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj.
“There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”
Men carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in a strike on a building where people were sheltering in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted Hamas militants and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians in the area.
A total of 51 people have been killed across Gaza today, according to hospital medics in the Hamas-run territory.
Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, placing at risk the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.
“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza had stopped operating “due to Israeli occupation forces firing at it”.
“Operations are currently being conducted using pre-filled oxygen cylinders, which are sufficient for only three days,” the group said.
“Occupation forces are currently stationed at the southern gate of the society’s Al-Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.”
The world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive had pushed Gaza City into famine.
Palestinians inspect the site of deadly overnight Israeli strikes on a building where displaced people were taking shelter. Pic: Reuters
More than 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks as Israel has ordered the population to move south, but UN agencies and aid groups say an estimated 700,000 remain.
More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than half of them women and children.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The current wave of violence began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led militants carried out an attack inside Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Israel claims its operation in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to surrender and return the remaining 48 hostages. Israel believes around 20 of the captives are still alive.
Critics say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in peace negotiations and wants to continue the war with a view to displacing Gaza’s population and expand Israeli settlements.
He has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a Palestinian state.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “In Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year.
“They are the result of decisions that defy basic humanity,” he continued, citing “a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict” in his years as secretary-general.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of Gaza,” he added.
The world’s leading association of genocide scholars, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), declared in August that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
Several other leading rights organisations, including two Israeli groups, have also said Israel is committing genocide.
Israel has repeatedly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and claims they are justified as a means of self-defence.
A Spanish military jet with a defence minister on board suffered a GPS “disturbance” while on the way to Lithuania, according to Spanish officials.
The military aircraft was flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave on Wednesday morning when the incident is reported to have happened.
Margarita Robles was the minister on the flight, according to Spanish officials.
A commander onboard the Spanish plane said such incidents are common when flying near Kaliningrad, both for civil and military aircraft – and military satellites could also be used to navigate.
A Spanish defence ministry spokesperson said: “There has been an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal, but as our aircraft has an encrypted system, it was not affected.
“It must be common on this route and also with commercial flights. It is not because it is our aircraft.”
Read more: Who is messing with GPS signals – and why?
Ms Robles was due to have a bilateral meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene during a visit to the Siauliai airbase on Wednesday, according to the Spanish government’s agenda.
The plane was also carrying relatives of Spanish airmen forming part of the new NATO air defence mission on Europe’s eastern flank.
It was launched earlier this month after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace.
The Spanish contingent last week intercepted eight Russian aircraft operating over the Baltic Sea, Spain’s defence ministry added in a statement.
Ms Robles, 68, has been Spain’s defence minister since 2018.
In June, she said Spain was “absolutely committed” to NATO and the European Union.
Read more from Sky News:
Kremlin responds after Trump’s ‘big shift’ – UN latest updates
Farage criticised for failing to ‘stand up to idol’ Trump
Ursula von der Leyen speaks in Lithuania on 1 September. Pic: AP
Then in August, the minister said Spain would work to “invigorate” the European fighter jet project, known as FCAS.
It came after Spain revealed it was no longer considering the option of buying US-made F-35 fighter jets and would refocus its defence spending on buying European-made equipment.
At the end of August, a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suffered GPS jamming as a result of suspected Russian interference, an EU spokesperson told Sky News.
Estonia and neighbouring Finland have also previously blamed Russia for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace.
Russia has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks.
World
Israel kills 22 people including 9 children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
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