🎙 President Vladimir Putin's address following the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall (March 23, 2024)

💬 I am addressing you today in connection with a horrific and savage act of terrorism, which claimed the lives of dozens of peaceful, innocent people – including children, teenagers, and women.

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I express my deepest and most sincere condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones. The entire country, all our people are grieving together with you.

🕯 I declare March 24 a day of national mourning.

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Regarding the investigation of this crime and the results of the operational search action, we can currently say the following. All four perpetrators, who were directly involved in the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, have been found and apprehended.

❗️ They attempted to escape and were heading towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary information, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.

A total of 11 people have been detained. The Federal Security Service and other law enforcement agencies are working diligently to identify and expose the accomplice base behind these terrorists: those who provided them with transport, planned escape routes from the crime scene, and prepared caches with weapons and ammunition.

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All perpetrators, organisers and masterminds of this crime will face fair and inevitable punishment.

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We understand what the terrorist threat means. In this regard, we rely on cooperation with all states that sincerely share our pain and are ready to really join forces in the fight against a common enemy, international terrorism and all its manifestations.

Terrorists, murderers, those inhumane individuals who have no nationality and cannot have one, face one and the same gloomy prospect – retribution and oblivion.

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☝️ Russia has weathered the most arduous, sometimes unbearable trials more than once, yet it has emerged even stronger. And so it shall be now, as well.

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