Moscow attack live updates: Gunmen open fire at concert hall as building in flames

Roof of concert hall near Moscow where shooting took place is collapsing, says RIA

The roof of Crocus City Hall, the flame-engulfed concert centre near Moscow where gunfire and explosions were heard on Friday night, is collapsing, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported.

Eighteen people have been killed and forty-three injured in a shooting incident at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russian media outlet Baza reports.

There have also been reports of a second explosion at the venue, where a pop concert had been about to take place.

Other reports say that 100 people were evacuated from the concert hall.

Several gunmen burst into a big concert hall on the edge of Moscow and sprayed visitors with automatic gunfire, injuring an unspecified number of people and starting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack, Russian media reports.

It comes days after president Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the raid, the worst terror attack in Russia in two decades that came as the fighting in Ukraine dragged into a third year.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the attack as a “huge tragedy”.

All large-scale sporting, cultural and other public events will be cancelled in Moscow this weekend after a shooting incident, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday.

The shooting happened at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow on Friday night.

Blasts were heard from the building which is engulfed in flames.

Soldiers on the frontline have made clear to Askold Krushelnycky that shortages of ammunition are costing lives now – and they call on Western allies to move quickly and help them keep Russia’s forces at bay

Multiple people have been killed and many more wounded after several gunman opened fire at a concert hall near to Moscow.

The state Tassnews agency reported that the shooting occurred at the Crocus City Hall, a huge concert hall on the western edge of the Russian capital.

Several other Russian media outlets reported the shooting and said that the mall was on fire. Video circulated on social media appeared to confirm the reports.

Dozens of energy facilities across the country were hit in the attacks, plunging more than a million Ukrainian civilians across seven regions into blackouts, as Poland, Romania and Slovakia rushed to supply emergency power.

“The world sees the targets of Russian terrorists as clearly as possible: power plants and energy supply lines, a hydroelectric dam, ordinary residential buildings, even a trolleybus,” wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the Telegram messenger site. “Russia is at war against the ordinary life of people.”

A shooting incident occurred in the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russian news agency reported on Friday citing emergency services.

According to RIA news agency, at least three people in camouflage opened fire, and some people were wounded.

Footage purporting to show the aftermath of the shooting suggests there are multiple wounded or possibly killed.

TASS news agency reported a blast and a fire in the building where the shooting took place.

A former Ukrainian officer of an  anti-missile unit has dismissed the Russian defence ministry’s comments that the large-scale assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Friday was comparable to their attacks on oil referines.

He was referring to comments made by the Kremlin ministry that their sweeping attacks were “revenge” for Ukrainian attacks on oil refiners across western Russia. There have been nine such attacks this year.

“Oil is the main export of the Russian economy, so it’s logical for us to attack the refineries,” said Andriy Kramarov.

“It is very bad that there are discussions suggesting today’s Russian strikes on us are equal to our strikes on  their refineries.

“They don’t even have any people that struggle from these attacks. We have a lot of civilians killed. They are not the same.

“The idea that the attacks cause casualties of war on both sides is wrong. Today’s attack was another terrorist attack from Russia. We are just trying to strike their economy without any civilian casualties.”

Russia’s large-scale overnight attacks against Ukraine’s energy facilities suggest “extensive preparation” over months, an advisor to the Ukrainian government has told The Independent.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, Director of the Energy Industry Research Center in Kyiv and an advisor to the Ukrainian government on the energy sector, said the attacks showed Russian forces were “well-informed” about Kyiv’s defences and the locations of vital energy facilities across the country.

“It was the most significant and well-planned attack on the energy sector since the onset of the war, targeting dozens of energy facilities – nearly all generation capacities except for nuclear, along with key substations,” he said.

“The operation’s scale indicated extensive preparation time. The attackers – as inferred from the assault’s blueprint – had been accumulating missiles and drones, analysing previous year’s attacks, gathering information on the current state of the energy system, and the level of protection that had been built up.

“It’s a solid assumption that the planning of this operation involved not only military personnel but also intelligence services and Russian energy specialists. Given the nature of the attack, they were well-informed about our defences and attempted to bypass them. Strategic planning was undoubtedly conducted by energy experts, considering the specific targets they aimed to hit.

“The consequences would have been dire had the attack occurred in winter, under sub-zero temperatures. However, the actual damage was far less, thanks to anti-aircraft defences and physical protection measures, preserving much of the valuable equipment.

“Russia’s goal was a blackout. That goal remains unachieved, with the system standing resilient, maintaining its control. We are receiving emergency electricity support from EU countries, further bolstering our defences.”