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- Strict requirements: the victims are unhappy with the verdict of the Crocus terrorists
Strict requirements: the victims are unhappy with the verdict of the Crocus terrorists
The court found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment four of the direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall and 11 of their accomplices. Four more of their assistants received sentences ranging from 19 years, 11 months, to 22 years and 6 months. As a result of the terrorist attack in March 2024, 149 people were killed and 609 more were injured. The victims were dissatisfied with the court's decision. First of all, the perpetrators of the crime will spend from 16 to 18 years in prison (and not 25 — the maximum term according to the law), and then they will be able to change it to a colony with a less strict regime of detention. The victims also believe that all accomplices of terrorists deserve maximum punishment. Therefore, the verdict can be appealed. The investigation of the terrorist attack itself has not been completed — it continues in relation to two organizers and four participants of the terrorist organization, who are on the international wanted list.
How did the process go?
Almost all the defendants in the criminal case of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow received life imprisonment — 15 out of 19 people. This decision was made by the Second Western District Military Court. The trial took place on August 4, 2025 in the Moscow City Court. The criminal case, which totals 427 volumes, was investigated by the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
On the evening of March 22, 2024, before the performance of the rock band Picnic, terrorists in camouflage broke into Crocus City Hall and started shooting, and they later started a fire.
In March 2025, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, announced the completion of investigative actions in the criminal case of the terrorist attack in Crocus.
In June, the official representative of the Investigative Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, summed up the sad results of the terrorist attack: 149 people were killed, 609 were injured and injured in various degrees of severity, and one person was missing.
The trial was held behind closed doors. As a result, the Prosecutor General's Office reported the facts established in court: two wanted Tajik citizens and unidentified persons organized the activities of three cells of the Wilayat Khorasan group, which is part of the Islamic State, in Russia (both organizations are recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia).
According to the supervisory authority, these people involved four direct perpetrators in the preparation of the terrorist attack (Dalerjon Mirzoev, Shamsidin Fariduni, Mukhammadsobir Fayzov and Rachabalizoda Murodali, all listed in the Russian Federation as terrorists and extremists) and 15 more of their accomplices (all listed in the Russian Federation as terrorists and extremists).
So, according to the investigation, Umejon Soliyev coordinated the activities of terrorist cells. The brothers Dilovar and Aminchon Islomov, as well as their father Isroil, provided the terrorists with an apartment and a car. In particular, the dealer owned a white Renault, in which the suspects fled the crime scene.
Isroil and Aminchon Islomov
Several people converted the stripped firearms into combat weapons, transported them first to Kaspiysk, from where to the Moscow region, and handed them over to the perpetrators immediately before the terrorist attack.
Alisher Kasimov rented another apartment to the terrorists. He, as well as three other people, provided the criminals with money. And Dzhumakhon Kurbonov, according to investigators, provided cell members with telephones and paid for communication services.
Alisher Kasimov
The investigation revealed that preparations for the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall began several months before it was committed. Some of the defendants came to Russia from abroad, having completed initial training there. Several more defendants were already in Russia.
After the attack on the concert hall, the performers tried to escape to Ukraine, but were detained in the Bryansk region and taken to Moscow.
"Some accomplices received instructions from the organizers to leave the territory of Russia, but were detained while trying to cross the border," the Investigative Committee said. "It has been reliably established that this inhuman crime was planned and committed in the interests of the current leadership of Ukraine in order to destabilize the political situation in our country."
In the courtroom before the verdict was announced to those accused of committing a terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert Hall
In addition, some of the defendants planned to blow up an entertainment complex in Kaspiysk. This crime was prevented.
"The preliminary investigation continues with respect to two organizers and four participants of the terrorist organization. They have been put on the international wanted list and arrested in absentia," the ministry stressed.
Reaction to the verdict
The verdict was announced under enhanced security measures. The accused Mirzoev, Fariduni, Fayzov and Murodali were taken to court under escort.
Relatives of the dead and injured, as well as relatives of the accused, were present in the hall. Many of them were sitting with their heads down, none of those present were crying — there was silence in the hall before the verdict was announced.
Four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack and 11 of their accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment. Four more accomplices received a more lenient sentence — from 19 years, 11 months to 22 years and 6 months in prison. The defendants were also fined from 500,000 to 2.7 million rubles.
Dalerjon Mirzoev
Fariduni, whom the investigation considers the leader of the militant group, will spend the first 18 years in prison, Mirzoev and Fayzov — 17 years, and Rachabalizoda — 16 years. After that, they will go to a maximum security colony.
The perpetrators of the terrorist attack reacted calmly to the life sentence. Earlier, Mirzoev, Fariduni and Fayzov fully admitted their guilt in the crimes. The fourth perpetrator, Murodali, partially admitted his guilt.
Most of the other defendants also partially admitted their guilt. One of them stated that he did not know that he was sending money to the militants. Three people declared their innocence — brothers Dilovar and Aminchon Islomov and their father Isroil Islomov.
Fariduni Shamsidin
Alisher Kasimov pleaded not guilty. He told the court that he did not know who he was renting the living space to.
The sum of the victims' claims exceeded 207 million rubles. The relatives of the victims and the injured are demanding compensation for moral damage and reimbursement of funeral expenses or medical treatment and rehabilitation. At the same time, representatives of the victims do not exclude that the total amount of claims may increase as the case is considered and new applicants join. The court granted all civil claims filed in the criminal case.
Murodali Rachabalizoda (left) and Mukhammadsobir Fayzov
The victims stated after the verdict that they were unhappy with the punishment for those who transferred money to the terrorists, provided them with a car and an apartment. According to Anastasia Trunova, a representative of the victims, they are sure that the defendants in the case do not regret what they did. At the same time, the victims lost loved ones and were left with bondage in the form of long-term and expensive treatment.
— When they were given the floor, they tried to justify themselves, saying, "We didn't know anything, we didn't understand anything," but they don't feel any remorse. Their families did not ask the victims for forgiveness," Anastasia Trunova said.
The victims' side intends to appeal the verdict and ask for the maximum punishment for the accused — life imprisonment with 25 years in prison.
What the victims say
On the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy, some victims shared their details with Izvestia. One of them, Lyudmila, recalls that during the terrorist attack, some of the audience took refuge on the ground floor among the pipes. About a hundred people were trapped in an isolated basement. A fire was already blazing and smoke was billowing overhead. They were rescued by a security guard who radioed in to the rescue service. Her staff went down to the room, opened the back door and led people out through the thick smoke. Lyudmila and her husband were hospitalized for three weeks with carbon monoxide poisoning.
Tatiana Ruzanova, when the shooting rang out, was right at the entrance to the hall. "We didn't know how many attackers there were, what they wanted — whether we were hostages or whether we would be killed one at a time," she recalls. After inhaling smoke, the woman and her friend were almost the last to leave when rescuers and an ambulance arrived.
Ekaterina Klimenko was saved by a cloakroom attendant: when the shooting started, she and her husband ran to the car in the parking lot. A Krokus employee led them out in safe ways, shielding them from gunfire.
"We couldn't run fast because of the crowd, and my husband was behind me," she said. — I hope for a fair punishment according to the law.
Has the investigation ended
We expect a harsh verdict in the case of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, said Fyodor Trusov, lawyer and managing partner of Sokolov, Trusov and Partners Law Firm.
"For terrorist crimes, especially those that have caused mass deaths, the courts almost always impose the most severe penalties, including life imprisonment," he recalled. — The case was reviewed quickly enough for such a large-scale crime.
In such cases, the courts proceed from the maximum severity of punishment, especially when it comes to mass deaths and a pre-planned crime, added Alexey Gavrishev, Managing Partner of AVG Legal.
— In such cases, life imprisonment is actually the basic guideline of punishment, — said the lawyer. — This corresponds to the sanctions of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist act") and related compounds, which provide for the possibility of life imprisonment.
According to Fyodor Trusov, this is largely due to the enormous public outcry and the obvious demand from the state and society for the speedy prosecution of those responsible.
"In such cases, as a rule, significant resources are involved: enhanced operational support from various departments, large investigative teams, priority examinations and other procedural actions," he noted.
In addition, for such crimes, as a rule, a large-scale evidence base is formed even at the stage of the preliminary investigation: video recordings, digital traces, data from operational investigative activities, testimony of participants, Alexey Gavrishev added.
— Practice shows that such cases can develop in several stages, — said the expert. — First, the court sentences the perpetrators, whose involvement is proven directly. After that, the investigation continues to identify the persons who financed, coordinated or planned the crime. Sometimes such investigations take years, especially if the alleged organizers are located outside of Russian jurisdiction.
The investigation of such crimes can take a long time, experts stressed. Therefore, the chances of identifying the organizers and holding them accountable remain.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
