Russia has launched the high-stakes trial of 19 suspects accused of orchestrating the Crocus City Hall massacre in Moscow—one of the deadliest terror attacks in the country’s modern history. The assault, on March 22, 2024, left 149 people dead and hundreds more injured.
According to investigators, four armed men stormed the packed concert venue on the city’s outskirts, opening fire on the audience before setting the building ablaze.
Case files cited by Russia’s TASS news agency indicate that nearly half of the victims died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning as the inferno swept through the hall.
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility soon after the attack. Prosecutors allege the four suspected gunmen—Tajik nationals from the Central Asian former Soviet republic—were aided by 15 accomplices, all now facing charges ranging from terrorism to aiding and abetting mass murder.
Hearings are scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, according to the Moscow court’s website.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has sought to tie the attack to Ukraine, a claim Kyiv has rejected as “baseless” and “absurd.” Independent investigators have found no evidence supporting the Kremlin’s accusation. The trial comes as Moscow’s war in Ukraine enters its third year.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Russia has seen a sharp rise in xenophobic sentiment and intensified police crackdowns on Central Asian migrants, further straining the country’s ethnic and political fault lines.
