Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country would observe a national day of mourning on Monday in memory of the 133 victims of the mass attack on the Crocus City Hall outside Moscow.
“The whole country, our whole people, mourns with you,” Putin said Saturday after Russia's deadliest terror attack in two decades. The Russian president also vowed to punish the perpetrators of the concert hall attack. “The main thing now is to prevent those behind this bloody massacre from committing new crimes.”
Despite the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian State Duma Defense Committee blaming Ukraine — which is at war with Russia — for the attack, and an ISIS faction claiming responsibility for the mass shooting, Putin did not he singled out neither party in his address to the Russian people.
“We rely here on cooperation with all countries that truly share our pain and are ready, by their actions, to truly join our efforts in the fight against the common enemy of international terrorism,” Putin added.
But Putin said the four men arrested in the attack were trying to escape to Ukraine “where, according to preliminary information, a window had been prepared for them to cross the Ukrainian side of the state border.” reports CNN.
On Sunday, hundreds of Russians gathered outside Crocus City Hall to create a memorial for those killed in the terror attack. The company that owns the site pledged in a statement to rebuild and restore anything destroyed in the attack, with The New York Times reference the concert hall sustained more than $100 million in damage.
Russian band Picnic, who were due to perform the first of two sold-out concerts at Crocus City Hall on the night of the mass attack, said in a statement on Saturday: “We are deeply shocked by this terrible tragedy and mourn with you.” The band added that the woman who ran their merch stand at the venue is believed to be one of the 133 people killed in the attack, which took place before Picnic took to the stage.
In his speech at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis prayed “for the victims of the despicable terrorist attack that took place last night in Moscow.” He also prayed for those in “martyred Ukraine, where many people are without electricity due to intense attacks against infrastructure, which, in addition to death and suffering, bring the risk of a human catastrophe of even greater proportions,” the New York. The Times reports.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/russia-national-day-of-mourning-terror-attack-moscow-concert-hall-1234993635/