A Moscow court has convicted 19 individuals for their roles in the 2024 shooting spree at a concert hall that resulted in the deaths of 149 people and injuries to over 600, marking one of the deadliest incidents in the city in recent years. The attack, which took place on March 22, 2024, at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, was claimed by a faction of the Islamic State group. During the assault, four gunmen opened fire on attendees awaiting a performance by a popular rock band before setting the structure ablaze.
Following the trial that commenced in August 2025 in a military court due to terrorism charges, the 19 defendants received substantial prison sentences. Fifteen of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, one received a 22.5-year term, and the remaining three were each handed 19 years and 11 months behind bars. The verdict stipulated that those serving life sentences would spend a portion of their term in a standard prison and the remainder in a specialized regime penal colony.
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian authorities have insinuated, without concrete evidence, that Ukraine played a role in the attack, an accusation vehemently denied by Kyiv. Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s primary criminal investigation body, asserted that the assault was orchestrated to advance the interests of Ukraine’s current leadership and destabilize Russia’s political landscape. The committee also highlighted that the four suspected assailants attempted to flee to Ukraine post-incident.
The assailants, all Tajikistan nationals, were apprehended shortly after the attack and exhibited signs of severe physical abuse during their appearance in a Moscow court. Alongside them, the trial encompassed three individuals who sold a vehicle to the gunmen, a landlord from whom they rented an apartment, and ten others with alleged terrorist affiliations, as reported by independent Russian news outlet Mediazona.