Inhumans to watch: how the trial of the terrorist attack in Crocus began

On August 4, the Second Western District Military Court began considering the merits of the criminal case on the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall. On March 22, 2024, armed militants attacked the audience, opened fire on them and set fire to the auditorium. 149 people were killed, 609 were injured and injured of varying severity, and one was missing. There are 19 people on trial, including four perpetrators. Three of them pleaded guilty in full, and the fourth partially. The details of the case are in the Izvestia article.

What has already been proven

The trial of those accused of the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow region, began on March 22, 2024. The case is being considered at an off-site meeting in the Moscow City Court. There are 19 people on trial, among them both the perpetrators and accomplices of the terrorist attack. The case is heard by a panel consisting of three judges.

In March last year, before the performance of the rock band Picnic, terrorists in camouflage broke into the building, started shooting and set fire to the concert hall. In March 2025, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, announced the completion of investigative actions in the criminal case of the terrorist attack in Crocus in less than a year. In June, the official representative of the Investigative Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, reported that 149 people were killed in the attack, 609 were injured and injured in various degrees of severity, and one person was missing.

According to the investigation, the crime was planned and committed in the interests of the current leadership of Ukraine in order to destabilize the political situation in Russia. On July 8, the indictment in the case was already submitted to the 2nd Western District Military Court for consideration.

Since the morning of August 4, unprecedented security measures have been taken at the Moscow City Court, where the hearings were held. The adjacent territory was examined by dog handlers with service dogs, police officers and Rosgvardiya officers were on duty. The accused were taken to court accompanied by special forces and riot police officers.

More than 30 riot police officers and bailiffs were on duty in the courtroom. More than 50 victims and their representatives attended the trial.

According to the investigation, preparations for the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall began in a few months. Some of the defendants arrived in Russia from abroad, where they underwent initial training.

"A number of individuals were on the territory of the Russian Federation and searched for funds and tools to commit a crime. Other defendants constantly carried out alterations of firearms and (...) handed them over to members of a terrorist organization. After that, it was transported to the city of Kaspiysk, from where it was delivered to the Moscow region immediately before the terrorist attack," Svetlana Petrenko said.

The perpetrators of the terrorist attack were members of the Vilayat Khorasan terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation, the Investigative Committee reported. Depending on the role of each individual, the defendants are accused of committing a terrorist act, undergoing training for these purposes, organizing and participating in the activities of a terrorist organization, illegally acquiring, transferring, selling, storing, transporting, transferring or carrying weapons, as well as a number of other crimes.

The first news on August 4 was the results of an expert examination, which established that the cause of death of 41 people was gunshot wounds. The remaining 108 victims died in the fire.

On the same day, the court extended the arrest of all 19 defendants for six months, Lyudmila Aivar, lawyer for 125 victims, told Izvestia. She clarified that not all the persons involved in the terrorist attack have been identified, some of them are not in Russia. The state prosecution expects to fully consider the case on its merits by January 7, 2026, Ivar added.

The majority of the survivors in the concert hall were found to have mental disorders in the form of a mixed anxiety and depressive reaction, according to the case file. Experts considered these manifestations to be a direct consequence of the terrorist attack and regarded it as serious harm to health. The victims also had emotional and behavioral disorders due to an adjustment disorder.

29 people filed civil lawsuits against the defendants totaling more than 66 million rubles.

Who pleaded guilty

Three perpetrators of the terrorist attack — Dalerjon Mirzoev, Shamsidin Fariduni and Mukhammadsobir Fayzov — pleaded guilty in full during the trial, Rachabalizoda Murodali — partially, one of the participants in the trial told Izvestia. He only agreed that he was a member of a banned organization and claimed to have committed "jihad."

Most of the other defendants also partially admitted their guilt. One of them stated that he did not know that he was sending money to the militants. Three people declared their innocence — brothers Dilovar and Aminchon Islomov and their father Isroil Islomov (listed as terrorists and extremists). According to investigators, Islomov's brothers and father helped the suspects in the terrorist attack with money, an apartment and a car. And Dilovar Islomov is considered to be the owner of the white Renault in which the suspects fled the crime scene.

After the indictment was announced, the defendants began to cry and stated that they were being tried illegally. During the preliminary hearing on July 21, the defendants asked for their case to be dropped, and Dilovar Islomov stated that he had simply sold the car. The Islomovs also asked for a jury trial.

Alisher Kasimov pleaded not guilty. According to investigators, it was he who rented out the apartment in which the suspects lived and were preparing the attack. He also told the court that he did not know who he was renting the living space to.

"We were running through thick smoke towards the light bulbs"

During the terrorist attack, some of the spectators were able to hide from the attack on the ground floor of the building, Lyudmila, the victim, confirmed to Izvestia. According to her, about a hundred people were trapped in a concrete space among communications.

"Everything was already on fire and the smoke was coming, but we were isolated," the woman shared. — I didn't believe in salvation, only my husband believed. It was just lucky that a guard with a walkie-talkie was with us, he contacted the rescue service. Masked employees came running and opened the door for us. We ran through thick smoke into the light of the light bulbs, we had to overcome the first floor and go out through the hall.

Lyudmila and her husband were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning, and they spent three weeks in the hospital.

Another victim, Tatiana Ruzanova, who was also present at the trial, told Izvestia that she came to the Picnic concert with a friend. The woman and her companion had not yet managed to enter the hall when the shooting started right in front of them.

"We didn't know how many of them there were, what they wanted from us, whether we would be hostages or whether we would be destroyed in turn," the victim said. — We inhaled a lot of smoke and were almost the last to leave when our liberators and an ambulance arrived. Now they (the defendants — Ed.) are sitting in court with their heads down. But whether they feel guilty, I can't say.

According to Tatiana Ruzanova, she did not lose her health during the terrorist attack, but the memories still torment her. The woman is undergoing therapy with a psychologist and is taking antidepressants.

Ekaterina Klimenko, who also attended the Crocus trial, told Izvestia that she was saved from possible death by a young guy, a wardrobe employee.

"When the shooting started, we realized that it was a terrorist attack, and together with my husband we ran to the parking lot — we had a car there," recalls Ekaterina. "A guy, a cloakroom attendant, met us downstairs and took us out safely. Shots were constantly being fired. We couldn't run fast, there were a lot of people, and my husband was covering me from behind.

According to the woman, all the victims who came to the trial are very worried, "because they saw the dead, how people fall and all the terrible consequences."

"I hope for a fair punishment in accordance with the law," she said.

What threatens the defendants

The start of the trial in the case of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall is a turning point that will be monitored not only because of the monstrous scale of the tragedy, but also because of the public demand for justice, Alexey Gavrishev, head of AVG Legal, told Izvestia.

"The perpetrators who opened fire and set fire to the hall are likely to receive life imprisonment," he said. — Those who provided transport, housing or communications facilities may be given a strict regime with a long period of 10 to 20 years. If one of the accomplices was involved under pressure or deception, retraining or a more lenient punishment is possible.

The defendants' admission of guilt, Alexey Gavrishev added, gives the court only a formal reason to consider the possibility of not imposing a life sentence. But it depends on the position of the court, the identity of the accused, their behavior and the details of the investigation.

During the judicial investigation, the chain of connections between the terrorists, motives, plans, and sources of funding will have to be established. Also, Alexey Gavrishev believes, it is impossible to exclude the appearance of new names in the case.

— A separate issue is the defense: the case is high—profile, the pressure on all participants in the process will be enormous, - the lawyer added. — The court will have to withstand not only the legal, but also the social burden. It is such cases that show how justice works in the context of a national tragedy.

The victims' civil lawsuits against terrorists and accomplices are likely to be satisfied, but there is no practical sense in these penalties, says Irina Fast, head of the group of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers for providing free legal assistance to victims at Crocus City Hall.

"The terrorists have no funds, and their "employers" do not compensate the victims for their damage," the lawyer told Izvestia. — Therefore, penalties against terrorists are likely to remain on paper without actual execution, and this is a huge problem.

In some jurisdictions, Irina Fast added, special funds have been set up to compensate victims of terrorist attacks for moral damage, and then, by way of recourse, recover these amounts from the perpetrators.

"The situation has not been resolved yet, and the real payment for such tragedies is provided by government programs and special funds, which compensated the victims of harm after the tragedy at Crocus," the lawyer noted.

According to Irina Fast, the responsibility in this case is divided into two parts — the terrorist attack and the unsecured security conditions of the event. In the second part, the investigation has not been completed.