By Heather Chen, Andrew Raine, Catherine Nicholls, Antoinette Radford, Maureen Chowdhury and Kathleen Magramo, CNN
From CNN's Darya Tarasova
The Russian Investigative Committee has updated the death toll in the Crocus City attack to 137.
In a statement released online, the committee said "the bodies of 137 people have been found at the site of the terrorist attack, three of which are children."
The committee added that 62 bodies have been identified so far.
"For the remaining victims, genetic examinations are being carried out to establish their identities," the statement said. "The investigation of the crime scene continues."
From CNN’s Katya Krebs in Moscow and Eve Brennan in London
The Russian Embassy in Washington says it did not receive any warnings about a potential terror attack in Moscow from the US, Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Sunday.
The US diplomatic mission had warned Americans to “avoid large gatherings” at the beginning of March due to reports “that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow.”
Earlier this week Putin had dismissed those warnings, telling the FSB that the embassy warnings were "provocative" and "outright blackmail."
“We did not receive any notifications or messages in advance,” Antonov told RIA.
“We paid attention to this, but,… I had no contacts with either the White House or the State Department on this issue,” he added.
In light of Friday’s attack at Crocus, Antonov told RIA Novosti that contacts between the US and the Russian Federation in the fight against terrorism have been “destroyed,” adding that the fault was not Moscow’s.
“I always reminded the Americans that our president was the first who, in 2001, extended his hand to the Americans and declared his readiness to provide help. And something worked, it worked... and it’s not our fault that all of this has been destroyed today,” he said.
From CNN's Matthew Chance, Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, Moscow
Huge memorials like the the one at the Crocus City Hall have become a regular feature of life in Russia — a sign of instability and volatility inside the country.
Last year people laid flowers for Wagner mercenary leader Prigozhin who died in mysterious plane crash after leading an abortive march on Moscow.
And last month, thousands turned out to pay respects to the prominent Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who died suddenly in his penal colony.
Now, thousands of Russians are mourning the victims of this latest terror attack.
Alexander Matveev, 37, told CNN that people in Russia feel insecure and worried that another attack could take place.
He said he heard Putin suggest that Ukraine may be involved and it made sense to him.
“He said they were trying to escape to Ukraine. This makes sense. They just found some halfwits who were eager for money," he said. Ukraine has strongly denied any connection.
But, Matveev added he would wait to hear what investigators find.
“There is a bit of anxiety here. We are worried if another attack will take place.”
“But Russia is strong, we won’t give up.”
From CNN’s Darya Tarasova
Procedures to identify those killed in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow region on Friday have begun, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the city’s Department of Health had said on Sunday.
Such procedures are taking place at the Moscow Forensic Medical Examination Bureau where relatives of the victims have been invited in advance, according to RIA.
RIA added that the department said molecular genetic examination may be required in some cases, given the complexity of the procedure, which will take at least two weeks.
From CNN’s Thom Poole and Eve Brennan in London
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt told British broadcaster Sky News that the UK government has “very little confidence in anything the Russian government says” with regards to the Kremlin’s claim that Ukraine was somehow involved in the Moscow Crocus City attack on Friday.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address that the four attackers had tried to escape to Ukraine “where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border."
“We know that they are creating a smokescreen of propaganda to defend an utterly evil invasion of Ukraine. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a tragedy when innocent people lose their lives, when you have horrible bombings,” he said.
Hunt went on to say he takes “what the Russian government says with an enormous pinch of salt… after what we have seen from them over the last few years.”
CNN's Anna Chernova contributed to this report.
From Katya Krebs in Moscow
Huge crowds of people are currently lining up in the rain to place flowers at a memorial outside the Crocus City Hall in Moscow region where 133 people were killed during a terror attack on Friday, a CNN team on the ground reported Sunday.
Members of the clergy are also paying their respects and have initiated prayers which crowds joining in the singing.
Hundreds of flowers and a group of white balloons were left near the memorial.
From CNN's Christopher Lamb
Pope Francis has condemned Friday's “vile” concert hall attack in Moscow, speaking after the Palm Sunday Mass in the Vatican.
Francis, 87, said he was praying for the victims. More than 130 people were killed in the attack, and even more injured after assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices.
“May the Lord receive them in his peace and comfort their families,” the pope told a crowd at St Peter’s Square.
“May he convert the hearts of those who plan, organize and carry out these inhuman actions," he added.
Analysis by Matthew Chance, CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, Moscow
Barely a week since Vladimir Putin secured his fifth presidential term, Russia has been plunged into carnage and disarray.
The appalling attack on the vast Crocus City Hall concert venue and shopping complex near Moscow, which has been claimed by ISIS, has left hundreds of innocents 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 here.
From CNN’s Clare Sebastian in London and Sophie Jeong in Hong Kong
Russian President Vladimir Putin held separate calls with his Turkish and Syrian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad, on Saturday and promised closer cooperation in fighting terrorism following the deadly concert attack in Moscow, according to a Kremlin readout.
The readout said Erdogan offered “his deep and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims” and “stressed the urgent need for closer bilateral cooperation in the fight against the terrorist threat.”
In a conversation with Putin, Assad “wished fortitude to the victims’ families and friends,” and the leaders “agreed to intensify contacts. . . in addressing counterterrorism,” according to the Kremlin.
Russia is the strongest foreign power operating in Syria, and Putin has long allied himself with Assad, throwing the full weight of the Russian military behind the Syrian Army.
