By Maya-Claire Glenn, Devin Malast, Mark Siquig
In the evening hours of March 22, the band Picnic was set to host a concert in Crocus City Hall concert hall set on the outskirts of the Russian capital when a terrorist attack occurred. The terrorist group ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, a branch of ISIS, has claimed credit for the attack which left more than 130 dead and more than 100 injured.
ISIS-K splintered from ISIS in 2015, adopting a more violent version of Islam.
Though ISIS-K was quick to take credit, stating their Russian branch was responsible, Russian president, Vladimir Putin had another group in mind.
“We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists,” Putin said. “The question that arises is who benefits from this? This atrocity may be just a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime.”
While the details on who is responsible are not clear, misinformation is a tool that has been weaponized by the Russian government throughout Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Ukraine is not the only group to receive accusations after the attack. Officials outside Russia have claimed the Kremlin as responsible, saying they staged the attack to generate support for their war efforts.
Images of five men had been circulating on social media with users claiming that these were the gunmen responsible. The primary post was retracted after it had come to light that those individuals had been killed earlier in March in Ingushetia, a region in southern Russia.
On March 24, four suspects, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov appeared in court, seemingly beaten. They were all charged with acts of terrorism.
