As Moscow music fans gathered for a concert by the popular Russian band Picnic at the 6,000-seater Crocus City Mall concert hall, sometime after 8:00 p.m. local time up to five bearded men wearing paramilitary clothing, carrying what appeared to be assault rifles and back packs entered the lobby to the hall.

Multiple videos were soon being posted on Russian mainstream media and Telegram channels that showed the men moving through the lobby area, constantly firing, changing magazines, reloading, and continuing to shoot anyone they saw at point-blank range. They then made their way into the concert hall entrance, shortly after which at least two explosions were heard.

It took some time for those sitting in the auditorium to realize what was happening as the gunman began to open fire on audience members in the lower floor of the theater. Other video footage, which Kyiv Post has not yet been able to verify showed what looked like bodies lying motionless in pools of blood in the lobby and in the entrance to  the hall.

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More video footage from CCTV cameras and other sources outside of the mall showed the building was ablaze, with flames leaping into the sky, and plumes of black smoke rising above the venue.

Initial reports indicated that there were many casualties with estimates ranging from 15 to 40 killed and up to 100 wounded, and an unknown number still trapped in the building.

Later reports said that up to 50 ambulances had been dispatched to the scene and, after a delay of almost an hour from the start of the attack, bystanders reported that police, and what appeared to be National Guard Special Forces arriving at the concert hall, which was confirmed by reports in TASS and video on social media.

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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that “A terrible tragedy had occurred in the Crocus City shopping center today. I am sorry for the loved ones of the victims.”

Sobyanin said all necessary assistance would be provided to those injured during the incident.

Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said he was heading to the area and set up a task force to deal with the damage without offering any further details.

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The attack occurred two weeks after a number of Western embassies in Moscow warned of an imminent terrorist attack, which President Vladimir Putin dismissed as an attempt by the US and others to intimidate Russians earlier this week.

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Comments (7)

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Yasha
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Terrorists attacking terrorists. These "peaceful Russians" are the enablers of the Putin despots of the world. Just like the Germans of the third Reich these citizens are getting just what they've got coming .

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Beards and cigarettes
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Impressive how law enforcers 'storm' the roofless crocus hall.

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ISIS HAS TAKEN CREDIT FOR THE TERRORIST ATTACK
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Apparently ISIS is taking credit for the terrorist attack. Good for them.

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KARMA IS A B, I, T, C, H, BITCH.
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Good. Give the Russian civilians a taste of their own medicine.

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Ule K.
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The same old tricks from the same old dog. The sham election just took place and now, coincidentally, there is a false flag operation inside Russian territory that will be blamed on "traitors" and the Ukraine. The same old crap that justified an holocaust against Chechnya.

The Kyiv Post is giving up to the mainstream media and using the wording "terrorist" to qualify the attackers. Even though it is true that anyone using such tactics, whether regular, irregular, or governmental in origin is a fully-fledged terrorist, using that wording in the open will only backfire against Ukraine, as everyone else will prefer to place the blame on Zelenky's desperate strategies.

Let's face it, Ukraine is losing the backing from Europe and the USA. They themselves are now thrilled to have yet another excuse to reduce the support to Kyiv and force a faster capitulation. This is by design and many more actors than just the Russians are gaining on these actions.

ULE K., GET YOUR BRAIN INTO REALITY
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@Ule K., A post of abject stupidity. You are clueless of the ethnic minorities who see Putrid is vulnerable to an internal revolution. This is just the beginning of the end of the Russian Federation. You are a wimp ass whining clueless fool.

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LM
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@Ule K.,
Dude, whatever you are smoking, change it up. The Federation has started to spiral. Putin won't be successful fighting an internal, external and economic battle. I see him more like a Trotsky than a Stalin. If lucky and he's not assassinated he'll live in exile where he can't face extradition.

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D.G
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Lex Talionis!

D.G NO SPEAKA DA ENGLISH
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@D.G, Translation: "The law of retaliation!" For those of you who were not raised Catholic and don't speak Latin.

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ra
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please don't blame Ukraine

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