Forty people were killed in a shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert centre near Moscow on Friday, state news agency TASS reported, citing information from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
More than 100 people had been injured in the same incident, TASS reported.
The attack, which Russian authorities are investigating as terrorism, is the deadliest in Russia in recent years.
Several gunmen burst into the concert hall on the edge of Moscow and sprayed visitors with automatic gunfire, killing and wounding dozens and starting a massive blaze. Russian media reported that the venue’s roof was collapsing.
The attack comes days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.
Putin is receiving “constant” updates about the attack, his spokesman said.
“The president is constantly being informed by all relevant services about what is happening and the measures being taken,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which investigates major crimes, said on Friday evening that it had opened an investigation into an act of terror after gunmen attacked the concert hall.
The attack took place as crowds gathered for a performance by Picnic, a popular Russian rock band. Russian news reports said visitors were being evacuated, but some said an unspecified number of people could have been trapped by the blaze.
Russian news reports said the assailants threw explosives, triggering the massive fire. Video posted on social media showed huge plumes of black smoke rising over the building, which can accommodate more than 6,000 people.
The prosecutor’s office said several men in combat fatigues entered the concert hall and fired at visitors.
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Extended rounds of gunfire could be heard on multiple videos posted by Russian media and Telegram channels. One showed two men with rifles moving through the venue. Another one showed a man inside the auditorium, saying the assailants set it on fire, as gunshots rang out incessantly in the background.
More videos showed up to four attackers, armed with assault rifles and wearing caps, who were shooting and screaming at people at point-blank range.
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. He did not immediately offer any further details.
Russian media reports said riot police units were being sent to the area as people were being evacuated.
Russia condemned the shooting as “a bloody terrorist attack”.
“The entire world community must condemn this despicable crime!”, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
Russian authorities said they had stepped up security measures at Moscow airports and train stations, agencies reported.
“Unknown people opened fire at the Crocus City Hall. The evacuation of people is ongoing,” emergency services told TASS news agency. RIA Novosti agency reported wounded victims after “automatic gunfire”, citing its journalist at the scene.
Video footage published on Russian social media channels showed chaotic scenes, with a large crowd of concertgoers attempting to flee the hall, followed by gunshots.
Other video footage showed a number of people lying motionless in pools of blood outside the hall.
Reuters was unable immediately to verify the footage.
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TASS news agency reported an explosion and a fire in the building where the shooting took place.
The Kommersant newspaper posted footage online showing smoke billowing from what it said was the concert venue building.
Several other Russian media outlets reported the shooting and said the mall was on fire. Video posted on Russian messaging app channels showed huge plumes of black smoke rising over the building.
The attack followed a statement issued earlier this month by the US embassy in Moscow that urged Americans to avoid crowded places in the Russian capital in view of an imminent attack, a warning that was repeated by several other Western embassies.
Ukrainian intelligence agency spokesman Andriy Yusov told Ukrainska Pravda news agency that “events in Moscow are a conscious provocation by Russian Special Services”.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he could not yet speak about all the details but that “the images are just horrible. And just hard to watch”.
“Our thoughts are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack,” Kirby said. “There are some mums and dads and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters who haven’t gotten the news yet. This is going to be a tough day.”
He said there was “no indication at this time that Ukraine, Ukrainians were involved in the shooting”.
“I would disabuse you at this early hour of any connection to Ukraine,” Kirby said.
“The White House said it sees no signs that Ukraine or Ukrainians are involved in the terrorist attack in Moscow,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“On what basis do officials in Washington draw any conclusions in the midst of a tragedy about someone’s innocence?”
She said that if Washington had information, it should be shared and that if Washington had no information, it should not be talking in such a way.
Russians fighting for Ukraine denied responsibility for the attack.
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Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on Friday expressed condolences to the victims of the shooting.
“All those involved in this crime must be found and brought to justice,” Navalnaya wrote on her account on the X social media network.
All large-scale sporting, cultural and other public events will be cancelled in Moscow this weekend following the shooting, said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
Russia was shaken by a series of deadly terror attacks in the early 2000s during the fighting with separatists in the Russian province of Chechnya.
In October 2002, Chechen militants took about 800 people hostage at a Moscow theatre. Two days later, Russian special forces stormed the building and 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters died, most of them from effects of narcotic gas Russian forces use to subdue the attackers.
And in September 2004, about 30 Chechen militants seized a school in Beslan in southern Russia taking hundreds of hostages. The siege ended in a bloodbath two days later and more than 330 people, about half of them children, were killed.
Reporting by Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters
