Both Moscow’s allies and its geopolitical rivals have joined the chorus of condemnation in the wake of the Crocus City Hall attack
A person lays flowers at an improvised memorial near the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region, Russia, on March 23, 2024. © Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
Words of consolation continued to come to Russia from all over the world on Saturday, a day after a major terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow. Friday’s assault on Crocus City Hall in Moscow Region claimed more than 130 lives and left more than 150 people injured.
Messages of support for the Russian people were extended by both national governments and international organizations alike. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres slammed the attack “in the strongest possible terms,” a UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said in a statement.
The UN chief “conveys his deep condolences to the bereaved families, the people, and the Government of the Russian Federation,” the spokesman added. The UN Security Council also issued a statement on the incident, where it called on all nations to “cooperate actively” with Moscow to hold all those behind “these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.”
The international body’s human rights chief, Volker Turk, also said that “nothing can justify such an attack.”
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EU Council President Charles Michel said that he “condemns the terrible terrorist attack in Moscow,” adding that “the loss of innocent lives everywhere is a human tragedy.” The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, also condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous attack perpetrated outside Moscow.” “The international community must remain firmly united against the scourge of terrorism,” he said.
NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said that the members of the US-led bloc “unequivocally condemn the attacks targeting concertgoers in Moscow.” “Our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” she said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), adding that “nothing can justify such heinous crimes.”
“The United States strongly condemns yesterday’s deadly terrorist attack in Moscow,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “We condemn terrorism in all its forms and stand in solidarity with the people of Russia in grieving the loss of life from this horrific event.”
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“India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned in the “strongest way” the “heinous terrorist attack targeting innocent people,” in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He also said Ankara is ready to develop cooperation with Moscow in fighting “all kinds” of terrorism.
”The UK condemns in the strongest terms the deadly terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow,” said Foreign Secretary David Cameron. “We offer our heartfelt condolences and express our deepest sympathy to the families of the many victims. Nothing can ever justify such horrific violence,” he added in a post on X.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, also turned to X to express his nation’s sympathies over the attack. “Saddened by tonight’s tragic events in Moscow. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and to all those affected. Such moments remind us of the fragility of life and the shared humanity that binds us all,” he said.
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”France expresses its solidarity with the victims, their loved ones and all the Russian people,” President Emmanuel Macron said, adding that Paris “strongly condemns the terrorist attack claimed by Islamic State.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sent a message of sympathy to Putin on Saturday, stating that Tehran “strongly condemns” Friday evening’s terrorist attack, and called for “serious measures by the international community for punishing the architects and perpetrators of this [act].”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also condemned “the terrible terrorist attack against innocent spectators,” in a post on X, and said that “our thoughts are with the victims’ families and all the wounded.”
“The horror of the massacre of innocent civilians in Moscow is unacceptable,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Messages of support and condolence also came from Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Japan, as well as from Syria and the Palestinian Authority.
