MOSCOW: The trial opens in Moscow on Monday of 19 people accused of involvement in an attack on a Moscow concert hall last year that killed 149 people.
Armed men stormed the Crocus City Hall music venue on March 22 last year, opening fire and then setting the building alight in what was one of the deadliest attacks in Russia’s history.
Hundreds of people were injured. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility.
The four suspected attackers, all from Tajikistan — an ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia — and another 15 people accused of being accomplices were expected to go on trial.
The first three hearings were to take place on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, according to a Moscow court website.
The attack shocked Russia, which was battling Ukraine in a military offensive that it started on February 24, 2022.
Despite the IS claim of responsibility, Russia implicated Ukraine in the attack, an allegation that Kyiv called baseless and absurd.
Nearly half of the victims were killed by smoke and carbon monoxide inhalation from the fire that broke out, not from gunfire, the state TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing case materials.
The attack sparked a wave of xenophobia against Central Asian migrants in Russia.
Russia to start trial of suspects in Moscow concert hall attack
https://arab.news/wqnpb
Russia to start trial of suspects in Moscow concert hall attack
- Armed men stormed the Crocus City Hall music venue on March 22 last year, opening fire and then setting the building alight in what was one of the deadliest attacks in Russia’s history
Ukraine, US, Europe still seeking common ground in peace talks, French official says
- French presidency official: “The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective”
PARIS: Ukraine, the United States and European powers are still working to find a joint position that would outline the contours of a peace deal, including security guarantees for Kyiv, that could be taken to Russia, a French presidency official said on Friday.
“Our goal is to have a common foundation that is solid for negotiation. This common ground must unite Ukrainians, Americans and Europeans,” the official told reporters in a briefing.
“It should allow us, together, to make a negotiating offer, a solid, lasting peace offer that respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereign interests, an offer that American negotiators are willing to bring to the Russians.”
The official said there was no joint document yet, but all sides would carry on negotiations in the coming days through various calls and meetings. He did not say whether Washington had set a deadline.
Kyiv is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favorable to Moscow.
Britain, France and Germany, along with other European partners and Ukraine, have been working frantically in the last few weeks to refine the original US proposals that envisaged Kyiv giving up swathes of its territory to Moscow, abandoning its ambition to join NATO and accepting limits on the size of its armed forces.
The French official said the talks aimed at narrowing differences with the United States and centered on territory and potential security guarantees for Ukraine once there is a peace accord.
Those discussions include the possibility of a NATO Article-5 type clause involving Washington that would seek to reassure Kyiv in case it was once again attacked by Russia, the official said.
The Europeans have also faced pressure in recent weeks with some American proposals touching on elements that concern NATO and the European Union, including suggestions on fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.
“The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective,” the official said. “That is what we are committed to and it is up to the Europeans and the Ukrainians to agree on how to proceed.”
