Over 19 hours went by after the terror attack outside of Moscow until President Vladimir Putin appeared in public for the first time.
He made no reference to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which had already claimed responsibility for the attack at the Crocus City concert hall on Friday. He linked the attack to Ukraine instead, despite previous warnings by U.S. authorities of a terror threat and information showing that the terrorists were moving towards the Belarusian border to escape Russia.
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In this chronology, Russian independent website Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories traces back Putin’s actions and reactions before and after the terrorist attack.
March 7-March 19 — before the terrorist attack
On the evening of March 7, U.S. authorities warn that terrorists are planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Moscow in the near future in places where citizens gather en masse, including concert venues. Putin does not comment on this in any way. The most fraudulent elections in modern history are taking place in Russia: the Central Election Commission declares Putin the victor with more than 87% of the vote.
On March 19, Putin calls the U.S. warning “outright blackmail.” Three days later, terrorists will kill more than 130 people and injure over 180 at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow. The United States will say that it warned the Russian authorities about the ISIS attack through private channels. Putin and the FSB secret services will say that there are traces of Ukrainian involvement in the attack.
March 22
19:57 – 22:40 (Moscow Time)
Militants enter Crocus, shoot at people for 15-18 minutes, set the hall on fire and leave. At 21:30, security forces storm the building, firefighters begin to put out the fires, and rescuers enter the building. The Ukrainian authorities comment on the terrorist attack. About 40 are confirmed killed and more than 100 wounded. Putin is silent.
22:42
Almost three hours from the start of the terrorist attack: Putin was immediately briefed on the terrorist attack and has given “all the necessary orders,” his press secretary Dmitry Peskov says.
Night of March 22-23
22:42 – 01:44
ISIS claims responsibility for the terrorist attack, which had already been verified by U.S. intelligence agencies. Reports now confirm 62 people have been killed and 146 are wounded; the bodies of the dead are being removed from the building. Police beat up peaceful citizens near Crocus. The security forces have left Crocus due to heavy smoke, not having found any terrorists.
01:45
Almost six hours from the start of the terrorist attack, Putin wishes recovery to all victims of the attack. He does not do so himself, but conveys his words through Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.
March 23
01:45 – 13:52
115 are confirmed dead and 121 injured in the attack. Rescuers begin to clear the debris and show footage of burned-out Crocus from the inside. Four suspected militants have already been detained in the Bryansk Oblast, not far from the borders of Belarus and Ukraine. Another 11 people are detained on suspicion. The FSB puts forward a version of terrorist connections with Ukraine.
13:50
Almost 18 hours from the start of the terrorist attack: Putin has received reports from the heads of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee, the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Health, and other officials. After that, he phones his Belarus and Uzbek counterparts, Alexander Lukashenko and Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
13:52 – 15:37
A video of the interrogation of suspect Shamsudin Fariduni appears. He says that an assistant to a radical cleric proposed to him in a telegram that he carry out the terrorist attack for a reward. Before the terrorist attack, he did not know the other suspects; he had flown in from Turkey and had earlier been in prison.
15:37
19.5 hours from the start of the terrorist attack: Putin appears in public for the first time. In his address, he repeats the FSB version of events that the terrorists tried to hide in Ukraine and were somehow connected with it. He compares the militants to “Nazis.” After that (judging by reports from the press service), he calls the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
15:37 – 19:52
133 people are confirmed dead. It transpires that Belarusian security forces helped detain the suspects; that is, they were moving towards the Belarusian border. Photos and videos of the interrogations of all the detainees appear; a security officer cuts the ear off one of them and tries to feed it to him. Officials and deputies are talking seriously about the return of the death penalty in Russia.
19:52
24 hours since the start of the terrorist attack: Putin calls Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Night of March 23-24 and day of March 24
19:53 – 13:27
ISIS publishes a video of the Crocus massacre filmed by the militants themselves. The footage shows people wearing the same clothes as the detainees. Two militants are known to be killed. There is nationwide mourning in Russia, and thousands of people come to Crocus with flowers in the rain. Western states condemn the terrorist attack. Moscow’s Basmanny District Court is preparing for the arrest of the suspects. A little later, 137 people will be confirmed dead and 180 injured.
12:02 – 17:48
45 hours from the moment the terrorist attack began: Putin’s personal propagandist Pavel Zarubin publishes a video showing the “first minutes and hours” of Putin’s work after the terrorist attack. In the footage, the elderly man picks up and puts down the phone, asks if there are any changes, and then records an address that he will release 20 hours after the attack. Putin himself phoned the presidents of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmon, and of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, on this day. He lit a candle in the church at his residence in Novo-Ogarevo.
