(Moscow) A light rain falls on the blackened building of the Crocus City Hall concert hall. A pungent smell in the surrounding air is reminiscent of the fire that raged all night.
At the foot of the iron barriers surrounding the area, hundreds of Muscovites came to lay flowers and stuffed animals throughout the day. Many cry, still overwhelmed by emotion and shock, struggling to realize the tragedy before their eyes.
“It’s a nightmare,” murmurs Alisa, a young woman of 21, still shaken, who spent the evening of the attack watching the news online. “Seeing all these corpses that weren’t even blurred…” The shaky videos taken inside the concert hall by people trying to escape the shots went around the internet. Beneath their feet lay already lifeless bodies, bathed in a pool of blood.
Moscow point Kyiv with the finger
Many could never have imagined that a terrorist attack could occur in the capital. “Of course, there were drones before which crashed into buildings,” explains Elena, manager in a large trading firm. “But it was on the outskirts of Moscow, it seemed so far away to us, whereas here I pass every day on my way to work. »
PHOTO ANTON VAGANOV, REUTERS
A passerby walks in front of an improvised memorial in St. Petersburg.
On Saturday, she went to the florist after work to buy a bouquet of carnations to place in front of the improvised memorial. “Times have become so unpredictable with the war,” sighs this mother of two adult sons, worried about possible military mobilization. She also stopped watching television. “It’s too stressful. »
Many in Russia speculated that the war in Ukraine and the killings could be linked. In the unusually deserted streets of Moscow, the attack is at the heart of all concerns.
Some, immersed in their smartphones, watch the interrogation of suspected terrorists, others discuss the events with their friends.
“Ukraine” is on everyone’s lips in the capital. “It seems that Kyiv is behind the attack,” the passers-by say among themselves, concerned, repeating the theses of Russian television. “The four masterminds of the attack have been arrested. They were heading towards Ukraine. According to our information, accomplices were waiting for them there to help them escape,” Vladimir Putin said on Russian television, 20 hours after the tragedy.
Warnings ignored
Rhetoric repeated, almost without interruption, throughout the day Saturday, despite the United States’ assertion that the Islamic State was behind the attack. “It’s not the Islamic State. It’s the Ukrainians,” says Marguerita Simonian, the editor-in-chief of Russia Today, one of the main Russian propaganda outlets.
“And the fact [que vendredi], even before the arrests, before the faces and names of the perpetrators were broadcast, Western special services began to convince the population that it was the Islamic State, betraying them. »
PHOTO YULIA MOROZOVA, REUTERS
With flowers in hand, passers-by join a rally in memory of the victims of the attack near Crocus City Hall.
The White House’s warning in early March that a planned terrorist attack was being prepared in the capital would only be further proof of Washington’s culpability. “We have to admit that it’s suspicious,” argues Timour, blue K-way on his shoulders protecting him from the downpour. Like most Muscovites, he only learned on Saturday that Washington had alerted the Kremlin of a terrorist threat.
Memory of the Chechen war
Others are more philosophical, like Igor, an economics student. “I don’t think this attack is sponsored by Ukraine, it seems counterproductive to me,” analyzes the 18-year-old young man. “On the contrary, on the contrary, the Russian population will hate them even more and mobilize against them. But I also can’t believe that this is the Islamic State… In reality, I have the impression that no one is capable of such a monstrous act. This is the deadliest attack in 20 years! »
PHOTO TATYANA MAKEYEVA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A Russian police officer patrols a security perimeter set up around Red Square in Moscow.
Indeed, the number of deaths exceeds that of the victims of the hostage-taking in the Moscow Dubrovka theater in 2002, where 130 people were killed, according to official figures. “This is very reminiscent of the Kremlin method used at the time,” says former Russian television presenter Alexander Nevzorov.
When Putin does not feel confident enough and does not find enough cohesion in Russian society, strange explosions and attacks occur, forcing the population to polish his boots.
Alexander Nevzorov, former Russian television presenter
During the Chechen War, several attacks left Russia bloody. The Russian opposition accuses the Kremlin of having been the sponsor.
The streets of the capital emptied of its inhabitants
The fear of a new attack paralyzes the capital. Igor does not hide the fact that he had to make an effort to unlock the door this morning and go out into the street. “Of course I’m afraid,” admits the young man. “I’m afraid not only of coming back to university, but of any public place. My throat was tight even when I got on the subway. But hey, we must continue to live…”
The sense of “citizen duty” took over among many Muscovites, not just Igor. “I couldn’t stand by and do nothing when I learned that the hospitals were running out of blood due to the large influx of injured people,” explains Evguény, who came with his wife to donate blood. “We need to unite and show solidarity more than ever. »