1 of 3 | Fire rises above the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue following an attack by gunmen in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow late Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry characterized the incident as a terrorist attack. Photo by Vasily Prudnikov/EPA-EFE
March 22 (UPI) — State media reported 40 people were killed near Moscow on Friday night when several gunman opened fire with automatic weapons at one of Russia’s biggest shopping and entertainment centers.
Tass reported a preliminary count from the Russian Foreign Security Service of more than 100 injured at the Crocus City Hall complex in Krasnogorsk.
One attacker then threw a grenade, which exploded and started a fire in the concert hall before a scheduled event.
The Russian Foreign Ministry characterized it as a terrorist attack. Russia’s prosecutor general posted on Telegram that officials are working to learn more about the attack.
“On behalf of Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor of the Moscow region has gone to the scene of the incident at Crocus City Hall to coordinate the actions of law enforcement agencies,” the prosecutor general’s office posted. “Tonight, before the start of the event in the concert hall in Krasnogorsk, unknown men in camouflage clothes broke into the building and started shooting.”
The popular rock band Picnic was scheduled to play at a sold-out show.
Russian emergency officials said firefighters had evacuated about 100 people from the basement of the building and were attempting to rescue others trapped on the roof, which was beginning to collapse.
More than 320 firefighters and 130 emergency vehicles have responded to the crisis, with three emergency helicopters dumping water on the fire. At least 21 people have been hospitalized.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the White House was working to gather more information on the attack.
“Our thoughts obviously are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack,” he said.
The White House said it found “no indication at this time” of Ukraine‘s involvement in the attack.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a post on X that “Ukraine absolutely has nothing to do with these events.”
“Ukraine has been fighting with the Russian army for more than two years. And everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield,” the post read.
The U.S. State Department issued a notice to Americans in Moscow to avoid larger gatherings and to stay in contact with the State Department for further updates.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the shooting a “terrible tragedy” and canceled all “sports, cultural and other mass events” for the weekend in response to the attack.
Public events also were canceled in nearby Podolsk and in the annexed Kherson region of Ukraine.
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in prison, took to X to offer her condolences to the victims of the attack.
“What a nightmare in Crocus,” her post read. “Condolences to the families of the victims and quick recovery to the injured. Everyone involved in this crime must be found and held accountable.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called on the international community to “condemn this monstrous crime.”
Officials from France, Germany and the United Kingdom have condemned the attack, with the German Foreign Office on X calling for the incident to be “investigated quickly.”
“Our deepest condolences with the families of the victims,” the post read.
The U.K. Russian Embassy called the shooting “a terrible tragedy,” and gave condolences to “families and friends of those affected and killed by today’s events.”
France’s foreign ministry said in a statement, “The images reaching us from Moscow are terrible. Our thoughts are with the victims and injured and the Russian people. Full light must be shed on these heinous acts.”