Four in court as Moscow attack death toll nears 140

The Islamic State group said it carried out Friday’s attack. Russian officials have claimed, without evidence, that it was carried out by four men. One of the men was brought to court in a wheelchair, it has been reported. The four men have been charged with committing an act of terrorism.

The graphic video released by IS has been verified as genuine by the BBC. No Russian official has acknowledged the claim, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was inappropriate to comment until the investigation had been completed. France has raised its terror alert to the highest level, with President Macron saying the Islamic State group had also recently been targeting France. The victims have been named as Dalerdin Mirzoyev, Shamsidin Faridin and Muhammadsohir Fayzadeh.

The men were allegedly tortured by masked police officers. The victims are believed to have been taken to a hotel in the city of St Petersburg. The face of the man identified as Fariduni was badly swollen. The man named as Fayzov appeared to lose consciousness as he was brought into court in a wheelchair wearing a thin hospital gown.

Mirzoyev also appeared to have a torn plastic bag wrapped around his neck. Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda have admitted guilt in full, court says. All four are to be held in pre-trial detention until at least 22 May. The men were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, state news agency Tass said.

The attack has raised questions about Russia’s moratorium on the death penalty. Russian authorities said 137 people were killed and more than 100 injured. The attackers also set fires which engulfed the venue and caused the roof to collapse. The men who appeared in court on Sunday were arrested in the Bryansk region around 14 hours after the attack, Russia’s Federal Security Service said.

The US warned Moscow earlier this month of a possible attack in Russia. The alert was roundly dismissed by the Kremlin as propaganda. It would not be the first time IS and its allies have attacked Russia or its interests abroad. The group claimed the bombing of a Russian aircraft over Egypt in 2015.

The US and other Western intelligence agencies have said the attack was probably carried out by the Khorasan branch of IS, known as Isis-K. It is among the most able and active of the IS offshoots, and was responsible for deadly suicide attacks at Kabul airport during the chaotic American withdrawal of 2021.