❗️Explosion-like sounds are heard in Crocus, presumably due to a fire, reports Sputnik’s correspondent on the ground.

Helicopter and ambulances arrive at the scene seen near Crocus City Hall.

❗️The blaze engulfing Crocus City Hall is intensifying, according to a Sputnik reporter on the scene.

What is known about Crocus City Hall shooting so far?

A shooting spree erupted on Friday at the major music venue located in Krasnogorsk, a city in the north-west of the Moscow region.

What do we know about the incident?

▪️ At least three people in camouflage burst into the ground floor of the Crocus City Hall venue and opened fire with automatic weapons. The gunmen then threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire in the venue, according to a Sputnik correspondent.

▪️ Audience members lay down on the floor to escape the shooting. After 15 to 20 minutes they began to move towards the exit.

▪️ The Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) and Special Purpose Mobile Unit (OMON), as well as firefighters, rushed to the scene of the incident.

▪️ More than 50 ambulance teams have been dispatched to the site

▪️ The concert hall is on fire, authorities are evacuating people from the building, while the firefighters are trying to put out the flames. At least 100 people have been escorted out of the venue.

Authorities react to the attack:

▪️ Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov rushed to the site of the assault

▪️ The first victims of the terrorist attack were admitted to hopsitals. Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko is monitoring the situation, the minister's aide told Sputnik.

▪️ Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged the world community to condemn the assault on the concert hall.

▪️ The White House claims that it had no information about the preparation of a terrorist attack in Moscow.

▪️ Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced that all sport, cultural and other public events in Moscow would be cancelled this weekend.

❗️If the United States has or had reliable data on the terrorist attack in Crocus, it must be immediately transferred to Russia, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

The Investigative Committee has announced that a criminal case involving terrorism charges over the Crocus City Hall shooting attack has been opened following the emergency.

⚡️Russia’s FSB: The terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall has resulted in 40 dead and 100 wounded so far, according to preliminary figures.

New footage from Moscow’s Crocus City Hall at this moment

⚡️The terrorists who attacked Crocus City Hall broke into the concert hall and started shooting people at close range, as reported by a Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the incident.

According to the correspondent, the attack occurred between the second and third intermission bell, just minutes before 20:00 Moscow time, right as the concert was set to begin. At least three men wearing camouflage and without masks burst into the hall through the stalls and began shooting people point-blank, in addition to throwing incendiary bombs.

Those who were able to escape the hall were directed towards the emergency exits by the complex's security, while the guards remained in place.

⚡️⚡️Putin was informed about the shooting at Crocus City Hall within moments of it starting, the Kremlin stated.

The President is constantly receiving information about the situation on the ground and the measures being taken through all the relevant agencies, and has given all the necessary instructions, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slams the White House for rushing to absolve Ukraine of responsibility for Moscow terrorist attack:

“The White House said it saw no indication that Ukraine or Ukrainians were involved in the terrorist attack in Moscow.

On what basis do officials in Washington draw any conclusions about anyone's innocence in the midst of a tragedy? If the United States has or had reliable information in this regard, then it must be immediately transferred to the Russian side.

And if there is no such data, then the White House has no right to issue indulgences to anyone.

All those involved, as stated by the Russian leadership, will be identified by the competent authorities.”

Russia calls upon the UN to condemn the Moscow terrorist attack, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram:

“The UN Secretary General's office said it was saddened by reports of the shooting.

SADDENED? BY A SHOOTING? Was that shooting at a shooting range, or what?

Live, people with all their might are broadcasting footage of a monstrous, bloody terrorist attack, which evokes not ‘sadness,’ but horror, shock, shock, unconditional condemnation, righteous anger and compassion for the victims.”

Turkey’s top diplomat has called Lavrov and conveyed Erdogan’s condolences to the Russian people, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

❗️The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations does not confirm the information about the localization of the fire in Moscow's Crocus City Hall; currently the fire area is 12,900 square meters.

❗️Children are among the victims at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, reported the Moscow children's ombudsman

White House comments on Moscow terrorist attack:

"Last week, the State Department, through our embassy there, has issued a notice to all Americans in Moscow to avoid any large gatherings, concerts, obviously shopping centers, anything like that, simply for their own safety."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on television that Friday's terrorist attack in Moscow is similar to the modus operandi of one world power, but not the United States, without naming the country in question.

“On March 7, the US Embassy in the Russian Federation called on its citizens not to go shopping in shopping centers and concert halls. This means that their intelligence services intercepted certain conversations and knew that this would happen... There is one world power, not America, whose this is the way to act,” Vucic said on TV Prva and added that he expects an escalation of hostilities in Ukraine and an approaching conflict at the global level.

Earlier, the President of Serbia expressed condolences to the leadership and people of Russia on television in connection with the terrorist attack in Moscow. He also confirmed that he had convened a meeting of the Serbian National Security Council on Saturday in light of the tragedy in Crocus City.

Moscow's Crocus City Hall now

US, UK intel knew of heightened terror threat ahead of concert hall attack: retired FSB colonel

Former FSB Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Filatov says he is “100 percent” certain of who is behind the terror attack on Crocus City Hall venue.

“What can be seen from the organization, from the forces and means used, is that everything was planned in advance. That is, it was not some kind of prank of semi-criminal elements.

Furthermore, I see that one group ‘worked’ on targeting people around the hall, while the second set fire to the roof, which seems to have now collapsed, in order to make the terror attack look ‘very effective’ in the media,” with the image seen round the world being of “practically the best concert venue in Russia” on fire, Filatov told Sputnik.

Filatov found it curious that the US and British embassies, at the behest of their respective security services, had asked their citizens living in or visiting Russia not to take part in any mass public events on March 8 – several weeks before Friday’s attacks.

“They knew about some terrorist incident that was being planned,” the counter-terrorism expert believes.

Filatov, who is a veteran of Chechnya and a special anti-terrorist operation to free hostages in Budennovsk, Stavropol Krai in 1995, has no doubt that Ukrainian intelligence is behind Friday’s attack. The Kiev regime has publicly denied responsibility.