BREAKING:
Hundreds of people likely being held hostage at the Crocus Concert Hall near Moscow.
At least 40 have been killed.
Large parts of the building are on fire.
SWAT teams have arrived but can’t enter due to the hostage situation. pic.twitter.com/4AkIZ2XvFV
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 22, 2024
Day: March 22, 2024
Ukraine’s largest dam ablaze after Russian strikes https://t.co/rH7ub4ShFO
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 22, 2024
Russia’s National Guard said it was searching for the perpetrators of the attack on Crocus City Hall that has left dozens dead.
More live updates: https://t.co/BoGDrHL3ZS pic.twitter.com/ScZ84aG8qO
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) March 22, 2024
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NPR News: 03-22-2024 5PM EDT
The US embassy in Moscow has issued a statement saying it is “shocked” by the attack and expressing “sincere condolences” to the Russian people.
The embassy is advising US citizens to avoid the area where the attack took place.
It has also warned that the US government is “severely limited” in its ability to help its citizens in Russia far from the Moscow embassy. They said the Russian government had limited the ability of US personnel to travel.
The US issued a warning to its citizens two weeks ago saying that officials were “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts.”
The warning urged Americans to avoid large gatherings for 48 hours. That time period has passed, but the similarities between the warning and today’s events suggest a link might be possible.
The images reaching us from Moscow are terrible, the French Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and injured and the Russian people. Full light must be shed on these heinous acts,” it said.
#Russie | Les images qui nous parviennent depuis Moscou sont terribles. Nos pensées vont aux victimes et blessés et au peuple russe.
Toute la lumière doit être faite sur ces actes odieux.
— France Diplomatie
(@francediplo) March 22, 2024
According to preliminary data, 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured as a result of mass shooting at Crocus City Hall in the Moscow region, Russia’s Federal Security Service reported.
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appears to be facing mounting backlash from residents of villages in Armenia’s northern Tavush province adjacent to contested border areas which he wants to hand over to Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan signaled plans to unilaterally make such concessions before visiting on Monday two of those villages, Voskepar and Kirants. He insisted there that the areas, which used to be occupied by four Azerbaijani villages seized by Armenian forces in 1991-1992, are not part of Armenia’s internationally recognized territory. He admitted that Azerbaijan would not reciprocate his concessions by liberating larger swathes of Tavush territory occupied by it at the time.
Many local residents rejected Pashinyan’s plans despite his claims that Azerbaijan will invade Armenia unless he cedes the deserted former villages strategically located along one of the two main Armenian highways leading to Georgia. They argued that they would lose access to their agricultural land, have trouble communicating with the rest of the country and be far more vulnerable to Azerbaijani armed attacks.
Popular resentment seems particularly strong in Voskepar, which would be affected by the handover more than any other Tavush community. Following Pashinyan’s trip, several dozen local residents gathered to warn against any Armenian troop withdrawal from the area.
On Thursday, some villagers took to social media to start collecting signatures in support of their demands for Pashinyan to drop his plans. One of their petitions is addressed to international human rights bodies.
The Voskepar school principal, Harutiun Alaverdyan, pointed out on Friday that the school will be just 100 meters from the nearest Azerbaijani army position if Yerevan does cede the adjacent lands to Baku.
“In this situation, how can we not worry about our school, the rights and security of our children?” Alaverdyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Our students would find themselves in the enemy’s sights. If they shot at us at that time [in the 1990s] who can guarantee that they won’t shoot now?”
Another local man said Voskepar would be effectively cut off from Ijevan, the provincial capital and Pashinyan’s hometown, and the rest of the country. He shrugged off the premier’s pledge to consider building a tunnel bypass for the community.
“It would take years, not one or two months, to build a tunnel connecting us to Ijevan and Yerevan,” argued the man.
Pashinyan’s plans also raised serious fears in Voskevan, another border village located nine kilometers north of Voskepar.
“No matter how much we give up, they [the Azerbaijanis] will want more,” the head of the village administration, Sergei Grigorian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “If we give them their so-called villages today, they will demand four others tomorrow and then claim our villages.”
Voskevan is home to five families from Nagorno-Karabakh who fled the region following last September’s Azerbaijani military offensive. They are now worried about another potential exodus from their homes.
Vitali Harutiunyan, a refugee from the Karabakh town of Askeran, has built a small greenhouse by his house in Voskevan. He said that because of the uncertain security situation in the area he has declined offers to help him expand the greenhouse.
The speakers of the Armenian and Azerbaijani parliaments, Alen Simonyan and Sahiba Gafarova, met Friday in Geneva on the margins of a European inter-parliamentary assembly.
The meeting was organized on the initiative and mediation of what is known as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Armenia’s National Assembly said in a statement.
“The possible support of the parliaments of the two countries to the process of the peaceful negotiations going on between Armenia and Azerbaijan was discussed,” the statement added. “The sides agreed to observe the opportunity of dialogue at inter-parliamentary level.”
“The meeting was held in the constructive atmosphere,” the statement noted.