Here's what we know about the four suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack
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March 25 Moscow concert hall attack

By Antoinette Radford and Aditi Sangal, CNN

Updated 5:19 p.m. ET, March 25, 2024
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5:55 a.m. ET, March 25, 2024

Here's what we know about the four suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack

From CNN’s Masha Angelova and Josh Pennington

Suspects in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, from left: Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, and Muhammadsober Faizov.
Suspects in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, from left: Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, and Muhammadsober Faizov. Yulia Morozova/Reuters

Each of the four defendants charged with committing a terrorist act in the Crocus City concert hall attack was brought to court individually in Moscow on Sunday.

They are accused of committing a crime under part 3, provision “b” of article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist act), which the Russian Criminal Code states is punishable with up to life imprisonment.

Three pled guilty to all charges, according to state media news agency TASS.

Here's what we know about the accused:

  • Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev: The 32-year-old was the first defendant brought to court. Mirzoyev, from Tajikistan, had a temporary registration for three months in the southern Russian city of Novosibirsk in Siberia, but it expired, according to RIA Novosti.
  • Saidakrami Rachabalizoda: He appeared as the second defendant, and told the the court that he had Russian registration documents but couldn't remember where they were. He communicated through an interpreter, according to state media RIA Novosti. Rachabalizoda was reportedly born in 1994.
  • Shamsidin Fariduni: He was born in 1998 in Tajikistan and is a citizen of the Central Asian country. Fariduni was officially employed at a factory in the Russian city of Podolsk and was registered in the city of Krasnogorsk, according to state media RIA Novosti.
  • Muhammadsober Faizov: The fourth defendant appeared nonresponsive in a wheelchair and was accompanied by a doctor to his court appearance, as seen in Moscow City Court’s video shared on Telegram. Faizov was temporarily unemployed, before which he worked in a barber shop in Ivanovo, a city northeast of Moscow, and is registered in that city, according to state media RIA Novosti. He was reportedly born in 2004.
10:22 a.m. ET, March 25, 2024

Moscow court orders preventive detention for all four defendants in concert hall attack case

From CNN’s Masha Angelova and Josh Pennington

Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, is escorted following a court hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, on March 24.
Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, is escorted following a court hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, on March 24. Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow on Sunday granted the investigators’ motion for detention, as the chosen preventative measure, for all four defendants in the Crocus City Hall attack case.

All four men have been remanded into pre-trial detention until May 22, Moscow City Court said on Telegram. They are all charged with committing a terrorist act, according to the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow, which under the Russian Criminal Code is punishable up to life imprisonment.

Each of the four defendants was brought to court individually on Sunday. Three pled guilty to all charges, according to state media news agency TASS. 

The names of the four accused in the case are Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, Moscow City Courts announced via Telegram.

All four are from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic, and have been in Russia on either temporary or expired visas. The court held closed hearings for each of the accused with no members of the public allowed, TASS reported, citing the court’s press service. 

12:17 p.m. ET, March 25, 2024

France raises its terror alert to highest level in wake of Moscow attack  

From CNN’s Chris Liakos and Morayo Ogunbayo

France lifted its terror alert to its highest level on Sunday, after ISIS claimed responsibility for the concert hall attack in Moscow that killed at least 137 people on Friday. 

“Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency,” French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said in a post on X.  

France’s decision to raise the alert came after a meeting of its defense and national security council, according to Attal.  

On Monday, Attal said two attempted terror attacks on French soil had been foiled since January and 45 in total since 2017. He said thousands more soldiers were ready to boost its counter-terrorism force, should they be needed.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Attal said that 4,000 soldiers were on standby to mobilize if necessary "in the event of an alert," in addition to the current 3,000 soldiers deployed across the country. Police presence in front of sites deemed sensitive such as schools would also be reinforced," he added.

CNN's Chris Liakos and Emmanuel Nicholas Miculita in Paris contributed to this report.

4:36 a.m. ET, March 25, 2024

Analysis: Moscow attack is a blow to Putin, who promised Russia security

From CNN's Matthew Chance, CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, Moscow

Law enforcement officers are seen deployed outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 22.
Law enforcement officers are seen deployed outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 22. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

Barely a week since Vladimir Putin secured his fifth presidential term, Russia has been plunged into carnage and disarray.

The attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue and shopping complex near Moscow, which has been claimed by ISIS, has left hundreds of people killed or injured.

This is hardly the stability and security for which so many Russians voted for President Putin. For years, the Kremlin strongman has been cast as a leader able to guarantee order in this vast, turbulent country. But Russia today seems more insecure and volatile than at any point in Putin’s 24 years in power.

The Kremlin’s brutal war in Ukraine, now in its third horrific year, has cost Russians dearly. The military doesn’t publicize casualty figures, but US estimates suggest more than 300,000 Russians have been killed or injured.

The recent death of Alexey Navalny, Russian most prominent opposition leader, has permanently silenced a vocal Kremlin critic. But the thousands who attended his funeral in Moscow, or who turned out to vote in a Midday Against Putin mass gathering at polling stations on the last day of the presidential election, indicate a base of discontent.

Now, the focus is firmly on the apparent reappearance in Russia of large-scale Jihadi terror attacks, unrelated to the Ukraine war or domestic opposition to the Kremlin. For a leader who has promised security and stability to Russians, a major attack on Russian soil is yet another powerful blow.

Read the full analysis.

10:23 a.m. ET, March 25, 2024

Crocus City Hall killings are deadliest since Beslan school siege. Here are the recent attacks in Russia

From CNN Staff

The attack on Moscow's popular Crocus City Hall that left at least 133 dead has become the deadliest attack in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004.

Some other recent attacks include:

  • September 26, 2022: Eleven children and four adults were killed when a gunman wearing Nazi symbols opened fire at a school in the western Russian city of Izhevsk. The shooter, who was reportedly wearing a black T-shirt with Nazi insignia and a helmet, died by suicide following the attack.
  • April 3, 2017: At least 11 people were killed in a blast on the St. Petersburg metro. The explosion tore through a train as it was traveling between two stations in Russia’s second-largest city.
  • October 31, 2015: A Russian passenger jet, Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed on October 31 after departing from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board. US intelligence analysis suggested that ISIS or its affiliates planted a bomb on the plane.
  • December 30, 2013: A massive explosion at a train station in the Russian city of Volgograd killed at least 16 people, including one police officer, the Investigative Committee of Russia said.
  • January 25, 2011: A suicide bomber attacked Domodedovo Airport, Moscow's busiest airport, killing 35 people and wounding about 100, authorities and state television said.
  • March 29, 2010: Two explosions rocked the subway stations in central Moscow during rush hour, killing at least 38 people and wounding more than 60 others, spawning widespread public outrage. A website associated with Chechen separatists, who have long fought for independence from Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks.