What Happened at the Crocus Concert Hall Shooting

On March 22nd, a horrific shooting took place at the Crocus Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, in an attack now known to be the work of the terrorist group ISIS. The few survivors told officers and press alike about the scene inside the concert hall, as many had to play dead just to get out of the concert hall alive. A video of the shooting surfaced on social media shortly after, showcasing the horror that unraveled inside the concert hall. Vladimir Putin’s video message in the following hours, accompanied by the terrorist group ISIS taking responsibility, would explain how the perpetrators had been captured just short of the Ukrainian border. The attack is the worst in Russian history since the Beslan siege of 2004. This instance comes even despite the warnings from the US embassy in Russia surrounding reports that extremists had imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow. This new information begs the question: How was this terror attack allowed to unfold? 

On the night of the shooting just before 8 pm, around ten minutes before the beginning of the performance by the band Picnic, a popping noise began to echo around the auditorium. A witness named Primrov told the Associated Press, “Initially I thought: fireworks or something like that.”. At least four men with automatic weapons had begun firing throughout the building, before setting the concert hall on fire. Videos show people trying to flee the auditorium by hiding behind dark red seats as they crawled toward the exits. In some of the videos, you can hear in the background a man yelling, “They set the auditorium on fire,” and right before the videos cut off you can see flames slowly begin to grow in a corner of the theater.  

President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, released a video statement shortly after the attack, quickly looking to place the blame on Ukraine. Other high-ranking Russian officials backed this claim, believing that the purpose of this information was to distract Russia from the war in Ukraine rather than help save lives. Putin’s theory was finally disproven when the terrorist organization, ISIS, took responsibility for the attack, with the men captured believed to be from a cell based in the former Soviet state of Tajikistan. This cell, in particular, part of an offspring of ISIS known simply as IS, has long targeted Russia since they intervened in Syria in 2015. Earlier in March, the United States embassy in Moscow had received intelligence regarding a potential attack in the capital targeting large gatherings; however, this information was discarded by Russian authorities. Putin criticized these reports calling them “provocative” and a form of blackmail by the US, and French President Emmanuel Macron backed these claims, revealing that French intelligence had similar information to the US. A day of national mourning, the following day, was overshadowed by the many questions surrounding how this attack had been allowed to unfold. 

The attack on the Crocus Concert Hall came less than a week after Putin claimed yet another victory in the Presidential election to maintain his dictatorship over Russia. While the legitimacy of the election has been questioned, Putin remained firm in his speech, as he criticized Ukraine along with the West and promised to save the Russian motherland. Even though it may not have been a thorough dent in Putin’s public persona, the attack has still left a scar on him and the Russian people. His reputation for maintaining order has come into question due to the attack, a situation not helped by the revelation surrounding the various warnings he had to potentially stop the attack. The security failures that led in part to the attack are due to Putin’s focus largely being on internal rather than external threats.

Even with so much death and despair, there are still a few heroic individuals who have been highlighted thanks to their bravery during the attack. An individual singled out by those on social media is fifteen-year-old Islam Khalilov, who was working as a coat check attendant on the night of the attack. Videos on social media showed Khalilov, formerly of Kyrgyzstan, leading a group of around one hundred people through the winding halls of the auditorium and out to safety. In an interview with the Russian media, Khalilov explained, “I understood if I don’t react then I’ll lose my life and those of many people. But honestly, it was terrifying.” Khalilov was one of the few individuals who put their lives on the line to help strangers during the attack, many of whom lost their lives during the process.

The focus in the following days and weeks will turn to how Putin will proceed in the aftermath of such an event. A peaceful approach was thrown to the side by Putin when he promised to retaliate fiercely against all those involved with the attack. The fear is that instead of trying to punish ISIS, Putin will continue to push his idea of Ukraine being behind the attack, using it as an excuse to send even more firepower to the front lines. If he does decide to go down that path, it will be a negative way to remember those who gave their lives in the Crocus Concert Hall. 

By Luke Birch