Russian court convicts 19 over 2024 concert massacre

A Moscow court convicted 19 people in a 2024 shooting attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed 149 people and injured more than 600 in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in recent years.

A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the massacre at the Crocus City Hall concert hall on March 22, 2024.

Authorities said four gunmen, identified as citizens of Tajikistan, shot people waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set fire to the building.

All 19 defendants were given long prison sentences: 15 were sentenced to life imprisonment, one was sentenced to 22 and a half years, and three were sentenced to 19 years and 11 months in prison.

According to the decision, some of those sentenced to life imprisonment will remain in prison, and the rest will remain in a special regime penal colony.

They were also ordered to pay fines ranging from 500,000 rubles to 2.7 million rubles ($A8900 to $48,000).

The trial began at a military court in August 2025, as is customary for terrorism charges, and was held behind closed doors, with authorities citing security concerns.

Three military court judges presided over the meeting.

President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have claimed Ukraine’s role in the attack.

Ukraine vehemently denied any involvement.

The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top criminal investigative body, said the attack was “planned and carried out in the interests of the current leadership of Ukraine with the aim of destabilizing the political situation in our country.”

It was also stated that four suspected gunmen were trying to escape to Ukraine.

They were arrested hours after the attack and later appeared in a Moscow court with signs that they had been severely beaten.

Those tried alongside them included three men who sold cars to armed suspects, a man they rented an apartment from, and 10 other people accused of ties to terrorism, according to independent Russian news site Mediazona.