RUSSIA is reeling from a bloody terrorist attack in Moscow, a tragedy that has prompted a significant tightening of security measures nationwide.

The death toll from Friday’s terrorist attack has risen to 139 after gunmen stormed a concert hall in Moscow, Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, said Monday.

Earlier Monday, the committee requested the arrest of three more suspects, who provided the armed terrorists with an apartment and a car, and transported money, Bastrykin said.

In the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, four men burst into the Crocus City Hall on Friday night, spraying people with bullets just before the rock group Picnic was to perform its hit “Afraid of Nothing.”

The four appeared separately Sunday, led into a cage at Moscow’s Basmanny District Court by Federal Security Service officers, Reuters reported. They were charged at the court with acts of terrorism in connection with the attack. All four were identified as Tajikistan citizens, the Tass state news agency said. Several of the men asked for translators, as they could not speak Russian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon in a phone call, in which Rahmon condemned the attack and said the two countries would continue working closely together to fight terrorism and extremism.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it had found two Kalashnikov rifles, 28 magazines and more than 500 rounds of ammunition at the scene of the attack.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the militant group has since released what it says is footage from the attack. U.S. officials said they warned Russia of intelligence about an imminent attack earlier this month, which the Russians denied.

Aftermaths of a deadly attack

Sunday was a day of mourning in Russia to commemorate the victims of Friday’s terrorist attack.

From early Sunday morning, people were heading towards the Crocus Concert Hall in Kranogorsk, located on Moscow’s outskirts, to pay tribute to the victims.

Already, a mountain of flowers had piled up close to the burned building. It was cold and rainy.

Young and old, Russians and non-Russians, all have been coming with their own thoughts and overwhelming feelings. A pensioner, Svetlana Vasilevna, from Moscow, was waiting for over half an hour in line to lay flowers.

“This is another test of Russia’s strength. But I believe that they did not break us and will not break us. We need to think about who we are with, what we stand for, and what our priorities are,” Svetlana said.

Pavel, a man in his mid-20s, said: “The feeling is terrible, of course. I was in Donetsk and in Lugansk when, all of a sudden, this was happening here.”

Across the country, Russia has fortified security measures as investigations are underway.

In the wake of the terrorist attack, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the cancellation of all large gatherings within the city for the weekend. Similarly, Leningrad Oblast, Arkhangelsk Oblast, and several other places also canceled entertainment offerings, cultural events, and other public activities.

Russian railways, civil aviation, and other departments announced an increase in security inspections.

Hundreds in Moscow lined up Saturday to donate blood following the deadly attack.

In central Moscow, landmarks such as the Kremlin and the State Duma building flew their flags at half-mast Sunday.

Investigations

Russian authorities say they apprehended those who pulled the triggers, but the investigation should reveal who are behind the attacks.

All four suspects have been charged with terrorism and could face a life sentence, according to Moscow’s Basmanny district court. They were ordered to be held in pretrial custody until May 22.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called into question U.S. assertions that the Islamic State, which once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, was behind the attack.

Zakharova said the U.S. was spreading a version of the “bogeyman” of Islamic State to cover its “wards” in Kyiv and reminded the public that Washington supported the “mujahideen” fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said France also has information that the Islamic State carried out Friday’s attack, warning Russia against exploiting the attack by blaming it on Ukraine.

France has intelligence that “it was an entity of Islamic State that planned the attack and carried it out,” Macron told reporters after arriving on a trip to the French South American region of French Guiana.

He added that “this particular group made several attempts (at attacks) on our own soil.”

The French government said late Sunday it was raising its terror alert warning to its highest level following the Moscow attack.

War against terrorism

International cooperation is necessary in the fight against terrorism, but the dialogue is currently paused due to escalated global tensions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

“The fight against terrorism is a constant process that requires full-scale international cooperation, but now, due to the period of very tense confrontation, this cooperation is not being carried out in full, it is not carried out at all,” the spokesperson said.

Peskov added that Russia’s special services are working independently on the terrorist attack at the concert venue and the country currently has “no contacts with the West” regarding the investigation into the attack.

Issues regarding assisting Russia in investigating the terrorist attack and the possible involvement of the IS in the attack will be raised and discussed at one of the upcoming meetings of the U.N. Security Council, Voronkov Vladimir, the U.N. counter-terrorism chief, told Sputnik.

After the deadly shooting, world leaders voiced strong condemnation of the terrorist attack and expressed sympathy for the victims.

Putin talked with his counterparts from Türkiye, Syria, and Tajikistan, among other countries, over the phone to discuss the attack.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the urgent need for closer bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” and expressed “deepest sympathy and condolences” to the families of the victims and the Russian people.

(SD-Agencies)