Russia arrests concert hall gunmen as death toll hits 115 – Newstrends
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Russia arrests concert hall gunmen as death toll hits 115

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Russia arrests concert hall gunmen as death toll hits 115

Russia announced on Saturday that it had arrested 11 people, including four gunmen, in connection with the Islamic State’s attack on a Moscow concert hall, as the death toll increased to 115.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to comment publicly on the attack, and Moscow has not addressed the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility, even as some lawmakers pointed to a possible Ukraine connection.

Camouflaged gunmen opened fire at the packed Crocus City Hall in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday evening, ahead of a concert by Soviet-era rock band Piknik, in the deadliest attack in Russia for at least a decade.

Russia’s FSB security service said some of the perpetrators had fled towards the Russia-Ukraine border, adding that the assailants had “appropriate contacts” in the country.

It did not provide further details.

Some Russian lawmakers also pointed to Kyiv without providing evidence.

“The main interested party could most likely be Ukraine and its patrons… We can’t rule it out,” said senior Russian MP Andrey Kartapolov.

Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian military offensive for the past two years, had “nothing to do” with the attack, according to a statement by presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak on Telegram.

The Kremlin said the head of the FSB security service had informed President Vladimir Putin about the arrests, while authorities warned the number of fatalities was set to keep rising, with more than 100 still hospitalised and a search of the burnt-out venue ongoing.

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“FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov reported to the president the detention of 11 people, including four terrorists involved in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall,” it said.

In the more than 12 hours since the attack, Putin has not made any public statements or appeared in public.

The Kremlin said Putin was being kept constantly informed, and a government official said he had wished a speedy recovery to the victims.

At least 115 killed

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said rescue workers were still working on site, pulling bodies from the building.

“The emergency services have found more bodies while removing the rubble. The death toll now stands at 115 people,” it said in a statement on Telegram.

The number of fatalities was likely to rise further, as the governor of the Moscow region said rescuers would continue to scour the site for “several days.”

Investigators said people died both from gunshot wounds and from smoke inhalation after a fire engulfed the 6,000-seater venue.

“The terrorists used a flammable liquid to set fire to the concert hall’s premises, where spectators were located, including wounded,” the Investigative Committee said.

Flames had quickly spread through the venue on Friday after reports of the mass shooting, with screaming concert-goers rushing to emergency exits.

Social media footage revealed that some filmed the gunmen from the upper floors as they appeared to methodically walk through the stalls, shooting people.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Friday, saying its fighters attacked “a large gathering” on Moscow’s outskirts and “retreated to their bases safely.”

Russian authorities have called it a “terrorist attack”, but have not commented on the Islamic State’s claim.

Some 107 people were still in hospitals on Saturday morning, according to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.

Russian Telegram channels, including Baza which is close to the security services, and a lawmaker said some of the suspects were from the central Asian nation of Tajikistan.

In a statement, Tajikistan’s foreign affairs ministry said it had not received any information from Moscow about the involvement of its citizens.

In Moscow, residents formed long queues in the Saturday morning rain to donate blood, according to videos posted by state media outlets.

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Memorial posters featuring a single candle replaced advertising billboards at some Moscow bus stops, the RIA Novosti state agency reported.

Major events were cancelled across the country, including a friendly football match between Russia and Paraguay set to take place in Moscow on Monday.

Statements of condemnation from world leaders continued to roll in.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said the Taliban “condemns in the strongest terms the recent terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia … and considers it a blatant violation of all human standards.”

US warning dismissed

Attention is also being focused on Russia’s powerful intelligence services in the wake of the attack.

Just three days before, Putin had publicly dismissed Western warnings of an imminent attack in Moscow as propaganda designed to scare Russian citizens.

On 7 March, the US embassy in Russia had issued a security alert saying it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts.”

Washington said it had directly warned Russian authorities about a “planned terrorist attack” possibly targeting “large gatherings” in Moscow.

The United States had “shared this information with Russian authorities,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

But speaking to FSB chiefs last Tuesday, Putin said: “Recent provocative statements by a number of official Western structures about the possibility of terrorist attacks in Russia… resemble outright blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilise our society.”

Earlier in March, the FSB said it had killed Islamic State militants who were planning an attack on a Moscow synagogue.

Over recent weeks, the agency has announced on an almost daily basis the arrest of several pro-Ukrainian saboteurs it said were plotting attacks on Russian military infrastructure, AFP news agency reported.

Russia arrests concert hall gunmen as death toll hits 115

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Ukraine receives bodies of 140 fallen soldiers from Russia

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Ukraine receives bodies of 140 fallen soldiers from Russia

Ukraine has received the bodies of 140 soldiers killed while trying to defend the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson from Russian attacks.

The authority responsible for prisoner-of-war matters said on Telegram on Friday that five bodies were from the Sumy section in northern Ukraine.

Russia has no Ukrainian territories under its control in this area; however, at the beginning of March, units of allegedly Russian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine made advances from the Sumy region into Russian territory.

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Once the identities of the dead have been established, they will be handed over to their relatives, the authority said.

The authority, known as the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for arranging the return.

Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for over two years.

Despite the ongoing fighting, both sides regularly exchange the bodies of fallen soldiers and prisoners of war.

It is not yet known whether and how many dead soldiers Russia has received in return.

Ukraine receives bodies of 140 fallen soldiers from Russia

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Weeks after Iran’s attack, Israel discovers another massive surface-to-surface missile

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Weeks after Iran’s attack, Israel discovers another massive surface-to-surface missile

Weeks after missiles sent by Iran on April 14 rocked several parts of Israel, another debris of a surface-to-surface missile has been found in the southern part of the country.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the debris that was found by hikers in southern Israel, has been successfully evacuated.

“The effects of Iran’s attack on Israel can still be seen weeks after it occurred.

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“Earlier today, our troops removed the debris of a surface-to-surface missile intercepted during the Iranian attack. At the beginning of the week, the debris was found by hikers in southern Israel.

A complex removal, the process was made possible through advanced preparation by the Home Front Command and assistance from the IAF. During the process, the missile debris was cleared of hazardous materials, ” the IDF said in a post on Friday.

This is not the first missile discovered in the south since the attack. Similar missiles were discovered nearby in the Dead Sea area immediately after the major attack that Tehran launched against Israel, which included more than 300 suicide drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.

Weeks after Iran’s attack, Israel discovers another massive surface-to-surface missile

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Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

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Olubunmi Abodund with late wife Taiwo
Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

Olubunmi Abodunde, a Nigerian living in the United Kingdom, reportedly beat his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, according to the Daily Mail.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and frequently feuded over reported relationships and financial disagreements.

According to the news outlet, 48-year-old Abodunde had been investigated by Suffolk Police several times for domestic abuse and was scheduled to stand trial for murder, but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after the jury was sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of fringes’ inside the house, which Abodunde had entered despite bail restrictions imposed the day before that barred him from the residence due to another violent incident.

When they arrived 25 minutes later, they discovered Taiwo, 41, with her’skull bashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, cautioned him that the only conceivable penalty was life imprisonment.

Suffolk Constabulary submitted itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed that three officers were being investigated.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

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Abodunde has a history of mistrust and distrust towards his wife, accusing her of having affairs. He had been probed by police several times for alleged domestic abuse episodes prior to his wife’s murder.

He was detained on April 27 of last year, when police came to the couple’s house in Newmarket, Suffolk, and discovered Mrs. Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was released on police bail with the condition that he stay away from the marital residence and avoid approaching his wife.

However, after completing a night shift at Tesco, he returned home shortly after 9 a.m. to reportedly pick up his mobile phone.

At 9.20 a.m., two cops arrived to take Mrs. Abodunde’s testimony regarding the previous night’s incident, and they heard persistent banging inside.

But it wasn’t until 9.55 a.m. that they pushed their way in with permission from senior officers and discovered Mrs. Abodunde ‘clearly dead’ near the front entrance.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been throttled until unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were fractured, before her husband used the skateboard to kill her off. The hits were so hard that the skateboard was ruined.

Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court that the hammering officers heard was most likely caused by Abodunde continuing to assault his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs. Abodunde worked as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, a civil engineer by training, was unable to find work and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

Following his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to the hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode.”.

He later argued in a police statement that he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife. I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

However, the court heard that, while he had a hand injury, no knife was found near his wife’s body.

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the amount of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and could have been influenced by the medicine he was on. However, she stated that no medical evidence would be supplied to back her assertion.

Following the court, Suffolk Police Detective Inspector Dan Connick stated, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a long-term impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.”

“We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

“Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends, and we hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.”

Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

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