Russia on Thursday sentenced 15 men — including four gunmen — to life in prison over the Crocus concert hall attack that left 150 people dead, the deadliest assault in Russia in more than two decades.
Relatives of some of the victims of the March 22, 2024, attack — claimed by the Islamic State group — were present at a grand military court in Moscow as the verdict was delivered.
Shamsidin Fariduni, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Makhammadsobir Fayzov and Saidakrami Rachabolizoda — all Tajik citizens who went on a shooting spree inside the building before setting it on fire — looked down as the judge sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Eleven other men, some of them Russian citizens, were also jailed for life as accomplices and for having terrorist links.
Four additional men, including a father and his sons, were handed prison sentences ranging from 19 to 22 years for their connections to the attackers.
The assault in the Moscow suburbs was Russia’s worst attack since the 2004 Beslan school siege.
The gunmen entered the concert hall shortly before a performance by Soviet-era rock band Picnic. They later set the building on fire, trapping many victims inside. More than 600 people were injured in the attack, while six children were among those killed.
