Reactions to the concert attack

Expert on the Moscow incident: "Impossible without Russian help"

As early as Friday evening, IS claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow - yet the terrorist group was not mentioned once in Vladimir Putin's address to the nation almost 20 hours later. And the fact that IS took responsibility does not automatically mean that Russia had nothing to do with the attack. That's what Keir Giles, Russia expert at the British think tank Chatham House, told TT.

According to him, there are several question marks and gaps in the version presented from Russia. He also questions why the Russian security service did not react earlier, given the enormous camera surveillance in the country.

- Regardless of who did it, it would have been impossible without some kind of help from the Russian security services, says Giles.

US intelligence confirms the information that IS was behind the attack.

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Questions remain after the crime - why did the police delay?

Just over a day after the terrorist attack in Moscow, a number of questions still remain. Why was the police action delayed, how could the perpetrators escape so far and why would they have been on their way to Ukraine? DN and SvD have spoken to experts to try to clarify some of the question marks.

Several media outlets have drawn attention to the fact that it took a long time from the perpetrators opening fire until the police response forces were on the scene. The slow reaction may be connected to the fact that the Russian bureaucracy is heavy-handed and hierarchical, says terror expert Hans Brun to DN.

- If this had happened in Sweden, we would have received an answer from the police within a few minutes - not an hour.

That the Russian security service FSB claims that the perpetrators must have planned to flee to Ukraine is something that in turn is completely unsubstantiated, says Martin Kragh, analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies at the Foreign Policy Institute, to SvD.

- There is not a shred of evidence that Ukraine would be behind this. It would contradict all the known approaches used by democratic states.

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The owner of the concert hall: "We will never forget"

The owners of the Crocus concert hall, which was partially destroyed in Friday's attack that killed more than 100 people, say the facility will be rebuilt, Reuters reports.

"We will never forget the victims of the terrorists. What was destroyed by their dirty hands must be rebuilt," the company writes in a press release.

Hundreds of firefighters battled the flames overnight Saturday, but were unable to prevent the roof of the concert venue from collapsing. The fire is believed to have been started by the perpetrators using some type of flammable liquid.

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People outside the building on Friday.
The 15-year-old's efforts are said to have saved a hundred visitors

Panicked people ran in all directions as shots echoed through the concert hall in Moscow. 133 people have so far been confirmed dead after the crime, but the death toll could probably have been even higher if it weren't for some quick actions by people on the spot. This is what Aftonbladet writes with reference to Russian news channels on Telegram.

One of those highlighted is 15-year-old Islam, who worked extra in the cloakroom at the Crocus complex. When he found that many people were running in the wrong direction, further into the building, he led them out through an office passage instead. The 15-year-old told the Mash news channel that all staff received instructions on how to act in an emergency.

- I was just doing my job. It is better that you yourself die in battle than that you let others die, says Islam, who is said to have led over 100 people out of the concert hall.