Four men suspected by Russian authorities of having taken part in a terrorist attack last week appeared in court Sunday, looking significantly worse for wear.
The men have been charged with executing the terror attack on the Crocus City concert hall Friday that killed at least 137 people and were ordered to be held for an additional two months during the hearing, as the investigation into the attack continues.
“The men, identified as Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, face charges of a ‘terror attack committed by a group of individuals resulting in a person’s death,'” The Guardian reported Sunday, citing the Tass news agency.
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All four suspects pleaded guilty, the outlet said.
All four suspects also showed signs of rough treatment, presumably at the hands of their captors.
This combination of pictures created on March 24, 2024 shows (Clockwise from top L) Rachabalizoda Saidakrami, Dalerdjon (alternatively spelled Dalerdzhon) Barotovich Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov and Shamsidin Fariduni, suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, sitting inside the defendant cage at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow overnight March 24 and 25, 2024. (Tatyana Makeyeva and Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images)
The suspects appeared bruised and otherwise injured. One was brought into court in a wheelchair.
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Also on Sunday, the Islamic State terror group released previously unseen footage of the attack, perhaps to bolster its claims of responsibility for the attack in the face of Russia’s apparent attempts to blame it on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that 11 people had been detained in connection with the attack, including the four gunmen who opened fire at the venue and then set fire to its roof.
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He also claimed, without providing any evidence, that Ukraine had “prepared a window” for the terrorists to leave Russian across its border with Ukraine.
The men were identified as hailing from Tajikistan, to Russia’s south and closer to Afghanistan and Pakistan than Ukraine, the Guardian reported, again citing Tass.
Another Guardian article called the Crocus City attack the deadliest by the Islamic State group in Europe.
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It also noted that emergency workers were continuing their search Monday for additional victims, and that officials had begun DNA testing of some of the bodies found in order to identify them.
“Many terrorist attacks seek to provoke a powerful repressive response from authorities, with the aim of further escalating violence,” according to the outlet. “If this was part of the IS plan for Moscow, they are unlikely to be disappointed.”
“Russian authorities’ interrogation of the suspects appears to have been particularly brutal,” it added, referring to the images above.
Despite the Islamic State group’s claim of responsibility, Putin has made no mention of the radical Islamic terrorists in public remarks, saying only that those behind the “barbaric terrorist attack” would be punished, the Guardian reported.
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The U.S., however, has confirmed the terror group’s responsibility independently, according to the outlet.
“The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Putin and others close to him are seeking to divert the blame from Russian intelligence failings,” the Guardian reported Monday.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of "WJ Live," powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English as well as a Master's in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
