President Putin confirms arrest of four suspects after at least 133 killed in Moscow attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reacted to the violent attack on a Moscow concert by gunmen which led to the killing of 115 people on Friday night.

The grieving Russian leader disclosed that all four gunmen involved in the attack have been arrested and that the suspects were trying to flee to Ukraine.

Russia was thrown into a state of sadness after attackers in camouflage uniforms entered the building on Friday, opened fire and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb, according to a journalist for the RIA Novosti news agency at the scene.

The fire quickly spread through the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow’s northern Krasnogorsk suburb, as smoke filled the building and screaming visitors rushed to emergency exits.

Alexei, a music producer, was about to settle into his seat before the start of a rock concert when he heard gunfire and “a lot of screams”.

While reacting to the attack, Putin called the bloodbath a “barbaric terrorist act” and declared a day of national mourning for 24 March. “Our enemies will not divide us,” he also says.

The Russian leader added that preliminary information showed some people on the Ukrainian side had prepared to let them cross the border from Russia – Kyiv earlier said claims of Ukrainian involvement were “absurd.”

He thanked emergency services and special services for their efforts after last night’s attack in Moscow.

Meanwhile, the US presidency has suggested that the “terrible” attack may be linked to terrorists and said there was no immediate sign of any link to the conflict in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s presidency said Kyiv had “nothing to do” with the attack, while its military intelligence called the incident a Russian “provocation” and charged that Moscow special services were behind it.

The Freedom of Russia Legion, a pro-Ukrainian militia responsible for attacks on Russia’s border regions, also denied any role.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev vowed on Telegram that Ukraine’s top officials “must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists” if they were linked to the attack.

The United Nations, European Union, France, Spain, Italy and several other countries also condemned the attack.

The White House said its “thoughts are with the victims of this terrible shooting attack”, while French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed “solidarity with the victims, their loved ones and all the Russian people”.

Orthodox church leader Patriarch Kirill was “praying for peace for the souls of the dead”, said his spokesman Vladimir Legoyda.