克里姆林宫称，莫斯科音乐厅袭击事件已造成至少40人死亡、100多人受伤
【中美创新时报2024 年 3 月 22 日据美联社讯】（记者温友平编译）俄罗斯联邦安全局表示，周五在莫斯科音乐厅发生的袭击事件造成 40 人死亡、100 多人受伤。
俄罗斯当局正在将这次袭击作为恐怖主义进行调查，这是俄罗斯近年来最致命的一次袭击。
几名持枪歹徒闯入莫斯科边缘的音乐厅，用自动枪向参观者扫射，造成数十人死伤，并引发大火。俄罗斯媒体报道称，场馆的屋顶正在倒塌。
图片：周五，俄罗斯莫斯科西部边缘的克洛库斯市政厅上空发生大火。维塔利·斯莫尔尼科夫/美联社
这次袭击发生在总统弗拉基米尔·普京(Vladimir Putin)以一场精心策划的选举压倒性胜利巩固了对该国控制权的几天后。
俄罗斯新闻报道称，袭击者投掷炸药，引发大火。社交媒体上发布的视频显示，这座可容纳 6000 多人的建筑上空升起巨大的黑烟。
袭击发生时，人群聚集在一起观看俄罗斯著名摇滚乐队“野餐”的表演。俄罗斯新闻报道称，游客正在被疏散，但也有人表示，可能有数量不详的人被困在大火中。
检察官办公室表示，几名身着战斗服的男子进入音乐厅并向参观者开枪。
图片：周五，莫斯科郊外克拉斯诺戈尔斯克发生枪击事件后，在燃烧的克洛库斯市政厅音乐厅外看到紧急服务车辆。斯特林格/法新社 图片来源：盖蒂图片社
俄罗斯媒体和 Telegram 频道发布的多个视频中可以听到长时间的枪声。 其中一张照片显示两名男子手持步枪穿过商场。 另一张照片显示礼堂内有一名男子，称袭击者放火焚烧礼堂，背景中枪声不断响起。
更多视频显示，多达四名袭击者手持突击步枪，戴着帽子，近距离向尖叫的人们开枪。
莫斯科地区州长安德烈·沃罗比约夫表示，他正在前往该地区并成立一个工作组来处理损失。 他没有立即提供任何进一步的细节。
俄罗斯媒体报道称，在疏散民众时，防暴警察部队已被派往该地区。
俄罗斯当局表示，莫斯科机场和火车站加强了安全检查，莫斯科市长取消了原定于周末举行的所有群众集会。
白宫国家安全顾问约翰·柯比周五表示，他还不能透露所有细节，但“这些图像太可怕了。而且很难看。”
柯比说：“我们的心将与这次可怕的枪击事件的受害者同在。” “有些爸爸妈妈、兄弟姐妹、儿子女儿还没有得到这个消息。这将是艰难的一天。”
此次袭击发生之前，美国驻莫斯科大使馆本月早些时候发表声明，敦促美国人避免前往俄罗斯首都的拥挤场所，因为袭击即将发生，其他几个西方大使馆也重复了这一警告。
普京在全面镇压异见人士后，在3月15日至17日的总统选举中将他对俄罗斯的控制又延长了六年。本周早些时候，普京谴责西方的警告是企图恐吓俄罗斯人。
2000年代初期，俄罗斯车臣省与分裂分子的战斗期间发生了一系列致命的恐怖袭击，震惊了俄罗斯。
2002年10月，车臣武装分子在莫斯科一家剧院劫持了约800人作为人质。两天后，俄罗斯特种部队袭击了该建筑，造成 129 名人质和 41 名车臣武装分子死亡，其中大部分死于俄罗斯军队用来制服袭击者的麻醉气体的影响。
2004年9月，大约30名车臣武装分子占领了俄罗斯南部别斯兰的一所学校，劫持了数百名人质。两天后，围攻以一场大屠杀结束，330 多人被杀，其中约一半是儿童。
题图：2024年3 月 22 日，俄罗斯莫斯科西部边缘的番红花市政厅上空发生大火。SERGEI VEDYASHKIN/美联社
附原英文报道：
At least 40 killed and more than 100 wounded in attack on Moscow concert hall, Kremlin says
By The Associated PressUpdated March 22, 2024
A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, on March 22.SERGEI VEDYASHKIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Federal Security Service said 40 people died and more than 100 were wounded in an attack Friday at a Moscow concert hall.
The attack, which Russian authorities are investigating as terrorism, is the deadliest in Russia in recent years.
Several gunmen burst into the concert hall on the edge of Moscow and sprayed visitors with automatic gunfire, killing and wounding dozens and starting a massive blaze. Russian media reported that the venue’s roof was collapsing.
A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, on Friday. VITALY SMOLNIKOV/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The attack comes days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.
Russian news reports said that the assailants threw explosives, triggering the massive blaze. Video posted on social media showed huge plumes of black smoke rising over the building, which can accommodate more than 6,000 people.
The attack took place as crowds gathered for performance by Picnic, a famous Russian rock band. Russian news reports said that visitors were being evacuated, but some said that an unspecified number of people could have been trapped by the blaze.
The prosecutor’s office said several men in combat fatigues entered the concert hall and fired at visitors.
Emergency services vehicles are seen outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on Friday. STRINGER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Extended rounds of gunfire could be heard on multiple videos posted by Russian media and Telegram channels. One showed two men with rifles moving through the mall. Another one showed a man inside the auditorium, saying the assailants set it on fire, as gunshots rang out incessantly in the background.
More videos showed up to four attackers, armed with assault rifles and wearing caps, who were shooting screaming people at point-blank range.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said he was heading to the area and set up a task force to deal with the damage. He didn’t immediately offer any further details.
Russian media reports said that riot police units were being sent to the area as people were being evacuated.
Russian authorities said security was tightened at Moscow’s airports and railway stations, while the Moscow mayor cancelled all mass gatherings scheduled for the weekend.
White House National Security Advisor John Kirby said Friday that he couldn’t yet speak about all the details but that “the images are just horrible. And just hard to watch.”
“Our thoughts are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack,” Kirby said. “There are some moms and dads and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters who haven’t gotten the news yet. This is going to be a tough day.”
The attack followed a statement issued earlier this month by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that urged the Americans to avoid crowded places in the Russian capital in view of an imminent attack, a warning that was repeated by several other Western embassies.
Putin, who extended his grip on Russia for another six years in the March 15-17 presidential vote after a sweeping crackdown on dissent, earlier this week denounced the Western warnings as an attempt to intimidate Russians.
Russia was shaken by a series of deadly terror attacks in the early 2000s during the fighting with separatists in the Russian province of Chechnya.
In October 2002, Chechen militants took about 800 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Two days later, Russian special forces stormed the building and 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters died, most of them from effects of narcotic gas Russian forces use to subdue the attackers.
And in September 2004, about 30 Chechen militants seized a school in Beslan in southern Russia taking hundreds of hostages. The siege ended in a bloodbath two days later and more than 330 people, about half of them children, were killed.
