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Russia Arrests 4 Over Deadly Crocus City Hall Attack – Reports

Crocus City Hall building on fire. Denis Voronin / Moskva News Agency

Russian authorities have arrested four suspected accomplices in the deadly concert hall attack near Moscow this spring, state-run media reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

Four gunmen carried out the March 22 attack on Crocus City Hall, which left 145 people dead and more than 500 others wounded. Islamic State affiliate ISIS-K claimed responsibility, while Moscow also blamed Ukraine and the West for the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades.

Twenty people, including the four gunmen, were eventually arrested in connection with the attack, Russia’s FSB chief said in May.

The four additional arrests were made in southern Russia’s republic of Ingushetia, according to the Mash Telegram channel, which is thought to have links to Russia’s security services.

Short videos showed masked agents storming the entrance of a private residence and placing some of the men face-down on the floor.

The men were accused of helping a fifth suspect, Batyr Kulayev, flee. Kulayev allegedly provided weapons to the gunmen.

Russian media reported in November that Kulayev was one of four new defendants in the Crocus terrorist case. Kulayev and a second man remain at large, while the two others were transferred from Ingushetia to pre-trial detention in Moscow.

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