Edinburghers and Russians living in Scotland lay flowers at the Russian Consulate General in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Moscow.

We are sincerely grateful to everyone who did not remain indifferent to this terrible tragedy and shares the pain with the people of Russia in this difficult hour.

The staff of the Consulate General expresses deep condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to all those injured.

🎙 President Vladimir Putin's address following the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall (March 23, 2024)

💬 I am addressing you today in connection with a horrific and savage act of terrorism, which claimed the lives of dozens of peaceful, innocent people – including children, teenagers, and women.

<...>

I express my deepest and most sincere condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones. The entire country, all our people are grieving together with you.

🕯 I declare March 24 a day of national mourning.

<...>

Regarding the investigation of this crime and the results of the operational search action, we can currently say the following. All four perpetrators, who were directly involved in the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, have been found and apprehended.

❗️ They attempted to escape and were heading towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary information, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.

A total of 11 people have been detained. The Federal Security Service and other law enforcement agencies are working diligently to identify and expose the accomplice base behind these terrorists: those who provided them with transport, planned escape routes from the crime scene, and prepared caches with weapons and ammunition.

<...>

All perpetrators, organisers and masterminds of this crime will face fair and inevitable punishment.

<...>

We understand what the terrorist threat means. In this regard, we rely on cooperation with all states that sincerely share our pain and are ready to really join forces in the fight against a common enemy, international terrorism and all its manifestations.

Terrorists, murderers, those inhumane individuals who have no nationality and cannot have one, face one and the same gloomy prospect – retribution and oblivion.

<...>

☝️ Russia has weathered the most arduous, sometimes unbearable trials more than once, yet it has emerged even stronger. And so it shall be now, as well.

Read in full

⚡️ Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on condolences and expressions of support received from abroad following the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall

💬 From the first minutes after news of the horrific terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall complex broke, numerous calls, letters, notes, and official messages began to arrive from heads of state and government, heads of foreign countries’ government agencies, international organisations, NGOs, religious associations and concerned citizens. Statements have been released by presidents, ministers, parliamentarians and public figures from various foreign countries.

These statements express profound condolences to the families and friends of the victims and survivors, words of support and solidarity with the Russian people, and a categorical rejection of this terrible crime. Spontaneous memorials are appearing in front of Russian diplomatic missions abroad, where people are bringing flowers and candles.

🇺🇳 At Russia's initiative, the UN Security Council adopted a statement strongly condemning the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack in the Moscow Region. The UN Secretary-General also condemned the terrorist attack "in the strongest possible terms" and expressed his condolences to the people and Government of Russia. In telephone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the foreign ministers Azerbaijan, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mali and Türkiye expressed their condolences.

Russia has first-hand knowledge of terrorism. Our country faced its manifestations in the most inhuman forms in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it was fighting a terrorist insurgency in the North Caucasus, and hundreds of innocent Russians lost their lives. In September 2001, Russia was the first to respond to the pain of the American people following the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and assisted the international coalition in the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. Since 2015, at the request of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia has been participating in the fight against terrorist groups in that Middle Eastern country.

❗️ Over the past few years, the Kiev regime has been carrying out active and systematic terrorist attacks against Russian citizens: systematic shelling of residential neighbourhoods, including kindergartens, schools and medical institutions, attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, including transport and energy facilities, and assassination attempts against public figures and journalists.

Our country supports all efforts aimed at countering international terrorism and condemns it in all its forms and manifestations, regardless of where terrorist attacks may be committed. Deliberate killing of civilians for any purpose is unacceptable. The fight against this evil must remain the focus of all healthy forces within the international community.

Russian security services and law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident. The perpetrators, organisers and masterminds will be brought to justice, and appropriate legal and political assessments will be provided.

🕯 We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who did not remain indifferent to this tragedy.

🕯Throughout the day flowers continue to be placed at the Russian Embassy in London in memory of the victims of the horrific terrorist attack in Moscow.

Thousands of condolences and messages of support and sorrow have been posted as comments on our social media posts.

🙏We express our deepest gratitude to everyone for their sympathy and willingness to help in this difficult hour for our country.

🖊️Electronic book: condolences@rusemb.org.uk

Жители Эдинбурга и российские соотечественники возлагают цветы к зданию Генерального консульства России в память о жертвах теракта в Москве.

Искренне благодарны всем, кто не остался безучастным к этой страшной трагедии и разделяет боль с народом России в этот тяжелый для всех нас час.

Коллектив Генерального консульства выражает глубокие соболезнования семьям погибших и желает скорейшего выздоровления всем пострадавшим.

🕯На протяжении всего дня к Посольству России в Лондоне продолжают нести цветы.

Тысячи соболезнований и сообщений со словами поддержки и скорби опубликованы в виде комментариев к нашим постам в социальных сетях.

🙏Выражаем глубокую признательность всем, кто остался неравнодушным к этим трагическим событиям и разделяет боль вместе с народом России.

🖊️Электронная книга соболезнований: condolences@rusemb.org.uk

🎙️British officials on the terrorist act in Crocus City Hall in Moscow

💬David Cameron, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

▪︎The UK condemns in the strongest terms the deadly terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow. We offer our heartfelt condolences and express our deepest sympathy to the families of the many victims. Nothing can ever justify such horrific violence.

💬David Lammy, Shadow Foreign Secretary

▪︎The terrorist attack on Russian civilians last night in Moscow was appalling. We condemn it in the strongest terms. Our thoughts are with every victim and family affected by this cowardly act.

💬Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland

▪︎Dreadful scenes from Crocus City Hall in Moscow. There can be no justification for attacking and killing innocent civilians. My thoughts are with those who have been affected and their families.

💬Vaughan Gething, First Minister of Wales

▪︎The attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow is utterly reprehensible and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. The injuring and killing of innocent civilians can never be justified and my thoughts are with all those affected.

💬Alicia Kearns, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee

▪︎We all condemn the appalling and heinous attack claimed by Islamic State as reportedly committed by IS Khorasan in Moscow yesterday. <...>

🙏We express our deepest gratitude to everyone for their sympathy and willingness to help in this difficult hour for our country.

📖 The book by the Chairman of the Foundation for the Study of Democracy Maxim Grigoriev 'War Crimes of NATO in the Territory of the Former ' was published in English.

👉 Read in full: War Crimes of NATO in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia

On March 24 ,1999 NATO countries began an aggressive war against Yugoslavia.

The barbaric bombings of civilian infrastructure by the US, French, German, British air forces alone took the lives of over 3.5 thousand persons (including women and children), left ~10 thousand people wounded.

This book contains testimonies of victims and eyewitnesses of NATO war crimes and terrorist acts against civilians, committed in 1999. The facts presented in the book include:

▪️ Shelling of residential areas and killing civilians;
▪️ Shelling of hospitals and ambulances;
▪️ Bombing of industrial facilities to cause environmental damage;
▪️ Destruction of civilian objects;
▪️ Use of cluster and depleted uranium munitions by NATO.

The evidence of crimes presented in the book also contains direct speech and is classified according to the types of crimes under international humanitarian law.

Report and witness accounts were published in a form of a book testify to the numerous NATO war crimes, which under international humanitarian law are classified as crimes against humanity and have no statute of limitations.

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry Statement in connection with the 25th anniversary of NATO aggression against Yugoslavia

READ IN FULL

History knows many events which, by virtue of their profound impact on the international order, marked a change of eras.

The NATO attack on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999 is certainly one such event. It went beyond being a tragic milestone in the life of the Serbian people with thousands of ruined lives and desecrated national dignity, and included a devastating blow to international law and European security foundations that had been laid after World War II.

The United States and the EU got finally convinced in their own impunity and moral superiority which was bad news for those who prefer to choose their own path rather than become someone’s tool in their efforts to realise their own interests. The strategic balance of power collapsed, and a drawn-out crisis of international relations ensued which continues to worsen.

The US and its allies who assaulted a peaceful European country trampled on the UN Charter and the CSCE/OSCE principles, and desecrated the very notion of sovereignty. <...> The widespread use of depleted uranium munitions by NATO has led to a multifold increase in cancer cases in that region, contaminated the environment where millions of people had lived for many years, and went down in history as a separate dark chapter on the list of NATO crimes.

During the 78 days of military aggression 14,000 bombs were dropped on Yugoslavia and over 2,000 missiles were fired, including cluster and demolition shells. Under the mocking front of a “humanitarian intervention,” mostly civilian targets were hit, including residential districts, hospitals, schools, bridges, mass transit vehicles, and refugee convoys. Thousands of civilians were killed, including 89 children, whom the Western coalition cynically referred to as “collateral damage.” No one has ever been held accountable for these atrocities, and international justice turned a deaf ear to the suffering of the Serbs and let NATO atrocities go unnoticed.

<...>

❓ This inevitably begs the question: was the “Kosovo project” worth the sacrifice and destruction that the alliance brought upon Yugoslavia? Has the self-proclaimed “republic” added stability or prosperity to the Balkan region?

There is no doubt that the United States’ concern for the rights of Kosovo Albanians is a fake claim from the get-go. It is nothing but a false pretext for the crackdown on Serbs.

<...>

This is what the Western “peacemaking” is all about. Its disastrous ramifications can now be seen in Ukraine, where a neo-Nazi regime has been nurtured on the basis of Washington and its supporters’ rejection of the principles of equality and mutual respect in international affairs, a regime that committed genocide against the Russian population.

We can hear the US and the EU increasingly call on Serbs to “turn the page” and forgive NATO for the invasion that took place 25 years ago. On top of that, they lay the bulk of the blame on the Serbs for the dramatic events during the breakup of Yugoslavia, including the 1999 bombing attacks. I’d be hard pressed to find proper words to describe the extent of Western shamelessness and lack of self-criticism.

The Alliance will never be able to wash off the shame of war crimes. No one believes its demagoguery about defending freedom and democracy anymore. The United States and the rest of NATO have no right whatsoever to talk about implementing an obscure new “rules-based order.” Their every effort to put together some kind of “global security architecture” is by definition malevolent and toxic, and aimed solely at perpetrating the neocolonial hegemony of the West.

❗️ Russia and its partners in Belgrade will continue to oppose the attempts to distort the history of the Yugoslav crisis and to shift the emphasis to demonising Serbs and justifying the 1999 aggression. The attempts to insult the memory of the innocent victims of NATO hangmen are unacceptable.

#Opinion by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

💬 White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson: ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack [in Krasnogorsk]. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever.

Why haven’t they solved the assassination of their own president, John Fitzgerald Kenndy, so quickly? They have been trying to find the real assassin for 60 years. Maybe ISIS bears responsibility for his assassination too? Or will they waste another 60 years playing at “constructive uncertainty”?

Now, look at the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipeline. According to the United States – The New York Times has cited comments by US officials – Ukrainians were involved in that crime. However, US authorities later went down “beneath the surface” and are still looking for Kiev or ISIS divers there. Washington has not uttered a word of encouragement to the Danish or Swedish authorities to keep looking for the culprits, and the Anglo-Saxons have blocked Russia’s proposal to the Security Council to launch an international investigation under the UN umbrella.

Taken together, this shows that the US political elites have become skilled in diverting attention from high-profile crimes and launching false flag operations over the past decades.

In short, anything said in Washington to whitewash Kiev before the end of the investigation into the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall should be regarded as incriminating evidence, considering that liberal US Democrats have been financing the terrorist gang in Kiev and the Biden family has been involved in corruption schemes for years.

🕯 President Vladimir Putin honoured the memory of all who perished in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall by Orthodox tradition

#NoStatuteOfLimitations

🗓 25 years ago, to the day, on March 24, 1999, NATO launched a full-scale aggression and started mercilessly bombing Yugoslavia in gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter.

The US and NATO’s military operation against Belgrade was undertaken without the approval of the UNSC

The US & its cronies bombed the cities, including Belgrade, villages & civilian infrastructure for 78 days, blowing up bridges, passenger trains and buses and killing women, children & elderly people. By doing that, the West destroyed the post-WWII foundations of European security and started replacing the legitimate mechanisms that regulated international relations with a “rules-based order”.

▪️ 3,000 cruise missiles were fired at a sovereign European republic, & 80,000 tonnes of aerial bombs were dropped on the heads of people.

The use of depleted uranium ammunition contaminated vast areas & caused an unprecedented rise in cancer-related diseases, which affects people up to this day. 200,000+ non-Albanian residents of Kosovo, who had to flee from their homes, have still not yet returned there.

Using the aggression as a pretext, members of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army committed heinous crimes, including the kidnapping and murder of Serbs for body parts. Many of these criminals are still at large.

❗️ No NATO representative has been called to account. The victims of the aggression were written off as “collateral damage,” which means that they were the civilian casualties of the operations conducted by the United States, Britain and their satellites to attain their geopolitical ambitions.

The question of the NATO allies’ responsibility for the damage they have done to international relations and Yugoslavia remains open.

🕯 The military operation NATO waged against sovereign Yugoslavia more than 20 years ago is a tragedy inflicted upon the people of Yugoslavia by NATO warmongers with lasting and multifaceted consequences.

#WeRemember #Yugoslavia1999

Today, people continued to bring flowers to the Consulate General. We are sincerely grateful to everyone who did not remain indifferent to the terrible tragedy that occurred on March 22 in the "Crocus City Hall" concert hall, as well as to those who honoured the memory of the civilian victims of the barbaric shelling of Belgorod.

#See4Yourself & #Think4Yourself

🎬 WHY?: Revisiting NATO atrocities in Yugoslavia after 15 yrs - an RT Doc Film.

Synopsis: On the evening of March 24, 1999, several of Yugoslavia's largest cities were subjected to NATO airstrikes. The bombing, which lasted for three months, left hundreds dead and wounded and thousands of damaged lives. Many are still haunted by that nightmare.

RT correspondents - a Serb and an American - travel across the former Yugoslavia to explore the human cost of NATO's 1999 military campaign against Belgrade and the media onslaught against the Milosevic regime. Anissa Naouai and Jelena Milincic discover the very different ways the war was portrayed in the US and Serbia; and meet the people still traumatized by the 3-month bombing.

👉 Watch the full film by RT Documentary