2024-03-22 21:22:07
At least 40 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured on Friday evening (March 22, 2024) in an attack launched by unknown gunmen inside a party hall in a suburb In Moscow, According to what was reported by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The agency said, as reported by Russian news agencies, that “the initial toll of the terrorist attack that occurred inside the Crocus City Hall complex is currently 40 dead and more than 100 wounded.”
Russian security authorities announced on Friday evening that an explosion was heard in the Crocs City Hall mall in the city of Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of the Russian capital, Moscow, where a concert was being held, according to the Russia Today channel website. Eyewitnesses reported deaths and injuries among visitors and workers of the mall, while Moscow District Governor Andrei Vorobyov announced the establishment of an operations headquarters at the site of the explosion on the outskirts of Moscow.
Eyewitnesses described the shooters as men with black beards, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying machine guns. A TASS correspondent reported that about a third of the commercial building caught fire, and thick black smoke rose. More than 50 ambulance teams were sent to the scene. On Friday, Russian investigators opened an investigation into a “terrorist act” following the bloody shooting and fire carried out by unidentified gunmen in a concert hall in a Moscow suburb.
The Russian domestic intelligence service confirmed that people were killed and injured after an attack on an event hall in a Moscow suburb. Photo: Maxim Shemetov/REUTERS
While the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the entire international community to “condemn the terrorist act” in the “Crocs City Hall” mall on the outskirts of Moscow, the White House on Friday offered its condolences following the deaths of victims in a “horrific” shooting inside a concert hall in Moscow, noting that it is trying Get more information. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, “We extend our sympathies to the victims of this horrific attack. The images are horrific and difficult to watch.”
The White House also announced on Friday that it had no indications of… Ukraine’s involvement in the bloody attack Which took place in a concert hall in Moscow. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, “There is no indication yet that Ukraine, or Ukrainians, were involved in the shooting.”
For its part, Ukraine confirmed that it had “nothing to do” with the shooting in Moscow on Friday, according to preliminary reports, describing the incident as a “terrorist act.” Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podlyak said via Telegram, “Let’s be clear, Ukraine has nothing to do with these events.”
A.S./S.S. (DPA, AFP, Reuters)
A fight the likes of which has not occurred in Europe since 1945 – stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
In a conflict that Europe has not witnessed since World War II, fierce battles continue between the Russian invaders and the Ukrainians. According to estimates, the number of war dead and wounded in each camp exceeds 150,000 people.
Photo: Zohra Bensemra/REUTERS
Putin contradicts himself and begins attacking Ukraine
After months of tension and diplomatic efforts to avoid war, Russian President Vladimir Putin began, at dawn on Thursday, February 24, 2022, what he called a “special military operation” in Ukraine. The Kremlin has previously repeatedly denied Western reports about Putin’s intention to invade Ukraine. The large-scale invasion began with air strikes across Ukraine, and ground forces entered from the north from Belarus, Moscow’s ally, and from the east and south.
صورة من: Ukrainian Police Department Press Service/AP/picture alliance
Millions of Ukrainians are displaced to escape the war
With the beginning of the Russian attacks, a wave of exodus of Ukrainians from the combat areas began. About 5.9 million people were internally displaced due to the Russian war last year. Millions have also fled outside Ukraine, according to a report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (Thursday, May 11, 2023). Most of the displaced are women, children, the elderly and those unable to fight.
Image: Andriy Dubchak/AP/picture alliance
A failed attempt to control the capital, Kyiv
Within days, Russian forces took control of the main port of Berdyansk and the regional capital, Kherson, near the Black Sea, in addition to several towns around Kiev in the center of the north of the country. But its attempt to control Kiev collided with the resistance of the Ukrainian forces and behind them President Volodymyr Zelensky, who turned into a war leader. On April 2, 2022, Ukraine announced the liberation of the entire Kiev region after the “rapid withdrawal” of Russian forces.
Image: Emilio Morenatti/AP/picture alliance
Klitschko from boxing fight to fight fight
Ukrainians rose to defend their country. In addition to the military forces, there were civilian volunteers of all stripes. Here, for example, former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, wore a military jacket while he was on the ground to participate with the people of his country in repelling the Russian invasion. His younger brother and former world boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko also volunteered to fight. The two brothers also used their fame to gain global sympathy for their country’s cause.
Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP
Continued Western sanctions on Russia
The West, especially the European Union and the United States, took the path of imposing sanctions on Russia, whether by importing goods and energy from it, exporting technology to it, or confiscating the funds of businessmen linked to the Kremlin. At the G7 summit at Elmau Palace in Bavaria, Germany (June 2022), the group, which includes Germany, the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Britain, took decisions to expand sanctions on Russia.
Image from: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture alliance
Military aid enabled Ukraine to survive
Many Western countries, led by the United States and Britain, announced billions in military aid to Ukraine. Washington provided weapons and equipment in 2022 worth 22.9 billion euros, ranking first among countries supporting Ukraine militarily, while Britain ranked second in 2022 with aid worth 4.1 billion euros. As for Germany, in the same year, it provided 2.3 billion euros, ranking third among Ukraine’s military supporters.
Image from: Polish Chancellery of Prime Ministry/Krystian Maj/AA/picture alliance
Accusations of horrific war crimes in Bucha
In the battle-ravaged town of Buca, the bodies of civilians executed in cold blood were found in the streets. Later, the bodies of hundreds of civilians, some bearing signs of torture, were found in mass graves in the small city on the outskirts of Kiev. Pictures of these massacres, attributed to Russia, angered the West and the United Nations, and there were many accusations of war crimes, despite Moscow’s denials.
Image from: Carol Guzy/Zuma Press/dpa/picture alliance
Siege of Mariupol and fall of Azovstal
On April 21, 2022, the Kremlin announced its entry into Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov. Control of Mariupol allowed Russia to ensure communication between its forces from Crimea and the separatist regions of Donbass. But about two thousand Ukrainian fighters continued to fight, holed up in the underground maze of the Azovstal plant along with a thousand civilians. The fighters resisted until the last shot. Kiev said that 90% of Mariupol was destroyed and at least 20,000 people were killed.
Image from: Peter Kovalev/TASS/dpa/picture alliance
Historic day in Kherson
At the beginning of September 2022, the Ukrainian army announced a counteroffensive in the south, but it only made a lightning breakthrough into the Russian lines in the northeast and forced the Russian army to withdraw from the Kharkiv region. In October, Moscow began evacuating residents and the occupation administration from Kherson. On November 11, two days after the withdrawal of Russian forces, Kiev regained control of the city on a “historic day,” as President Zelensky described it.
Photo by: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
Arrest warrant against Putin and Russia received
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of war crimes over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. Kiev said that more than 16,000 Ukrainian children had been deported to Russia. The court also issued a similar warrant against Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova Belova. In May, Russia responded by issuing an arrest warrant for the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Ahmed Khan, a British national.
Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo/picture alliance
Prepare for a counterattack
In the face of Zelensky’s repeated requests and after a period of procrastination, the Americans and Europeans decided to send dozens of heavy tanks in order to improve the Ukrainian army’s ability to repel attacks. On April 19, 2023, Kiev announced that it had received the first American Patriot air defense system. At the end of the same month, Ukraine announced that it would soon be ready to launch a counterattack with the aim of liberating about 20% of its occupied territory, including the Crimean Peninsula.
Image from: Susan Walsh/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
Fighting for months in Bakhmut
In January 2023, the Russian army returned to launching attacks, especially in Donbass, with the support of mercenaries from the Wagner Armed Group and hundreds of thousands of reserve soldiers who had been mobilized since September. The fighting has raged, especially around Bakhmut, a city in the east that Russia has been trying to occupy since the summer. Bakhmut witnessed the longest and most deadly battles since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Image from: Muhammed Enes Yildirim/AA/picture alliance
Conflict regarding the fall of Bakhmut
Russia announced on Saturday evening, May 19, 2023, that it had completely seized control of Bakhmut, after the head of the Russian armed Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced on the same day that the group would withdraw its fighters from the city as of May 25 and would hand over the defense of the city to the Russian army. Meanwhile, Kiev said it was still fighting in certain areas, considering the situation of its fighters “critical.” Prepared by Salah Sharara/K.S. (AFP, Reuters, DPA).
Image from: TASS/dpa/picture alliance
1711152543
#Dozens #killed #explosions #shooting #concert #hall #Moscow