On 22 March 2024, at around 20:00 MSK (UTC+3), a coordinated attack occurred at the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, a Russian city on the western edge of Moscow.

On 22 March 2024, the Russian band Picnic was scheduled to play a sold-out show at Crocus City Hall. Before the band began their performance, four masked gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire using AK-style assault rifles and carried out a mass shooting on the people gathered at the venue and used incendiary devices to set the venue ablaze.  Investigators said the attack had killed at least 137 people, and more than 182 concertgoers were injured due to gunshot wounds and “poisoning” related to the fire., making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004 and the deadliest terrorist attack in Moscow’s history. Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the incident a terrorist attack. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-KP or ISIS-K), a South–Central Asia-based regional affiliate of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility in a statement released through the Telegram channel of Amaq News Agency shortly after the attack. Russian state media and officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have alleged Ukrainian involvement in the attack, but have not provided any evidence, and Ukraine has denied any involvement. Russian President Vladimir Putin in his first public statement calls attack to be a “barbaric terrorist act” and informed that all four gunmen have been arrested. Further, he declared Sunday 24 March a day of national mourning. IS–KP claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after in a statement released by Amaq News  Agency via Telegram, stating that the attackers “retreated to their bases safely”. The group is a regional branch of the Islamic State, an international terrorist group active in South-Central Asia, primarily Afghanistan. U.S. officials stated they had intelligence indicating that IS–KP had been planning an attack on the city. Colin Clarke from the independent Soufan Center think tank explained that Russia has been a focus of the group for some time, saying: “[IS–KP] has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda.” On 23 March, IS–KP released a photo of the attackers. Investigators detained 11 people in relation to the attack, including four suspects, who were charged with terrorism on 24 March.

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