Moscow and the whole of Russia are commemorating the victims of the heinous terrorist attack on a concert in the Crocus City Hall, which occurred exactly a year ago and resulted in the deaths of 145 people.
Several armed men stormed the building on the outskirts of Moscow in the evening, just before the start of a rock concert, shooting calmly and ruthlessly at the concertgoers in the foyer and hall, killing the wounded with knives and setting the concert hall on fire before fleeing in a car and running over a child at the exit. Due to the disorientation of the concertgoers and the rescue teams, who for a crucial half-hour did not know whether the terrorists were still inside, the already high number of fatalities increased further.
The numerous shocking video recordings, showing the killers carrying out their bloody work, moving calmly and steadily through the foyer and showing no concern for their terrified and defenseless victims, went around the world. They did not evoke sympathy: empathy for Russians is currently out of fashion.
The immediate perpetrators were arrested the next morning near the Russian-Ukrainian border: their plan was to find refuge in Ukraine, where they also intended to receive the remaining part of their payment for the bloodshed, laughable sums from the perspective of a sane person. But since when do jihadis kill for a payment?
This circumstance, which is actually clear and suggests that the planners and sponsors are also to be found in Kiev, quickly fell into oblivion in the face of the ethnic affiliation of the killers and suspected arsonists, Tadjiks, that is, Muslims. So, is this islamist-inspired terrorism? The majority of the world thinks so today and waves goodbye to the Russian hints of Kiev’s terrorists Kirill Budanov and Vasili Maluk, as well as the “confession” of the “Islamic State of Khorasan” and the alleged trainer from Afghanistan in the US, who made a confession.
But is it really that simple? I still know why I wasn’t at that concert, although an old classmate (he didn’t go either and he’s fine) had suggested it to me weeks before. I waved it off, as the US and British embassies in Moscow had warned their citizens explicitly two weeks before the bloodbath not to attend concerts. And then there was Victoria Nuland, who, after a visit to Kiev, promised “surprises” for Russia and Putin in the near future and then unexpectedly left her high post at the US State Department at the beginning of March.
Memorial for the victims of the terrorist attack of March 22, 2024 in the Moscow concert hall “Crocus City Hall” on the day before its inauguration (March 21, 2025), Roman Denisov / www.globallookpress.com
As someone who is naturally inclined towards conspiracy theories, these events fit together in my mind immediately: the SBU and GUR of Ukraine, whose hands are already stained with blood and who have publicly boasted of their terrorist actions, are planning something again. Nuland, who was in the know, slipped up, her boss Antony Blinken was too openly involved in the obvious terrorism, so the geographically insane Russophobe was asked to leave her office . I still haven’t found another explanation for Nuland’s resignation.
Stopping a terrorist cell once set in motion is not that simple, the Kiev terrorists can’t be stopped and so the urgent warning, published (and probably also shared with Moscow – or not) in something like “active regret” only delayed the attack until after the Russian presidential elections, not prevented it altogether.
Who says the Ukrainian terrorists can’t work with those in Afghanistan? Who says the “Islamic State of Khorasan” doesn’t accept commissions for terrorist attacks against “infidels”? And if the immediate perpetrators of March 22, 2024 are now being uncovered, it may not be the end of it.
The questions remain. The perpetrators, who will soon be judged, will not be able to answer them. The most important thing they’ve already said: they were on their way to Ukraine after the attack, not towards the uncontrollable open borders in the Kazakh steppes.
Today, Moscow is mourning. A memorial showing the souls of the attack victims rising to heaven was already inaugurated in the morning. The burned-out concert hall will not be rebuilt. The site is forever lost to the untroubled amusement of bygone days. Nor will the wounds of the injured, the traumatized, the relatives of those who were torn from life, ever heal.