Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman refused to answer a question regarding indications that the four suspects in the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall outside of Moscow may have been abused during and after their detention.
"I am leaving this question without an answer," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 25 after a journalist asked him about the "visible signs of violence" on the suspects when they appeared in court the previous day.
Peskov praised the country's security forces generally, saying they were "working tirelessly and are countering all threats, all challenges facing our country."
He added that Putin would meet with senior officials later on March 25 to discuss the investigation into the March 22 attack, which left 139 people dead and more than 180 injured. Nearly 100 people remain hospitalized.
The Defense Ministry reported on March 25 that the state award called For Courage and the military honor For Military Excellence had been presented by a deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District, Lieutenant General Esedulla Abachev, during a ceremony at the units' base.
Russian officials have said 11 people have been detained in connection with the March 22 attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk, including four men who are suspected of having carried out the attack.
Moscow's Basmanny district court on March 24 remanded the four men -- Saidakram Rajabalizoda, Dalerjon Mirzoev, Muhammadsobir Faizov, and Faridun Shamsiddin -- into custody for at least two months pending trial on terrorism charges. The court identified the four as Tajik citizens and said they all admitted guilt after being charged.
The court on March 25 remanded three more suspects, including the former owner of the car that the attackers allegedly used to flee. The suspects are Aminjon, Dilovar, and Isroil Islomov. The court did not explain the relationship between the men, but Aminjon and Dilovar have patronymic names indicating they are sons of Isroil.
Dilovar Islomov is believed to be the last owner of the white Renault used by the attackers. The court ordered the Islomovs to remain in pretrial detention until at least May 22.
Evidence continued to emerge that the men may have been tortured during their detention by Russian security forces. All four appeared in court with bruises, bloodstains, and swollen faces.
Before-And-After Images Suggest Severe Abuse Of Moscow Terror Suspects
Rajabalizoda, whose ear was reportedly cut off during his arrest, had a bandage on the right side of his head. There was no official confirmation that his ear had been severed, and forensic photographs presented in court did not show the injured side of his head.
Earlier, Telegram channels with purported connections to the Russian security agencies published a video purporting to show men cutting off a portion of Rajabalizoda's ear and trying to force him to eat it. The men also threatened to cut off his genitals. According to Russia's Fontanka news agency, the video was first published by Telegram channels connected with the notorious Wagner mercenary group.
Late on March 24, the Grey Zone Telegram channel, which has also been tied to the Wagner group, published a photograph purporting to show men torturing suspect Faridun Shamsiddin. The photograph shows a military radio connected by wire to the suspect's genitals, a well-documented form of torture through electric shock used in the Russian military.
The photograph was accompanied by a mocking text reading: "One of the detained terrorists-migrants from Tajikistan began to lose consciousness from all of the excitement so he was connected to a charger. Despite the fact that he is not a citizen of Russia, the special forces soldiers respected his rights and gave him a telephone to call his lawyer."
In another video, a suspect lying on the ground reads a statement in which he said a cleric had promised him 500,000 rubles ($5,500) to carry out the attack.
State Duma Deputy Aleksandr Khinshtein, who has close ties to the National Guard, wrote on Telegram that some of the suspects were detained near the village of Katsun in the Bryansk region. Security forces allegedly fired at a car carrying the suspects that failed to stop, detaining one on the spot and capturing an unspecified number of others after chasing them in a forest.
Grey Zone published the video purportedly showing the cutting off of Rajabalizoda's ear on March 23, saying the man had been captured in the forest. A man in the video yells at the suspect: "Chew, bastard! I will cut you open and shove it into your mouth." The channel added the comment: "So it will be with all of them."
Grey Zone gained prominence in November 2022 when it published a brutal video showing Wagner mercenaries executing a fellow mercenary, convicted murderer Yevgeny Nuzhin, with a sledgehammer.
Russian defense authorities on March 25 said they had presented state and military honors to two units stationed in the western Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, in connection with their purported roles in capturing some of the suspects.
The Defense Ministry reported that the state award called For Courage and the military honor For Military Excellence had been presented by a deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District, Lieutenant General Esedulla Abachev, during a ceremony at the units' base.
The Crocus City Hall attack was the worst terrorist incident in Russian since the 2004 Beslan school siege, in which 333 people, many of them children, were killed. The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mourners Pay Tribute To Victims Of Concert Attack In Russia
In his comments on March 25, Kremlin spokesman Peskov declined to comment on U.S. assertions it had warned Moscow in advance of a possible terrorist attack in the capital. He also said Moscow has had "no contacts" with the West since the attack.
He added that he was "not authorized" to comment on the IS claim of responsibility. Putin, in a televised address on March 23, also failed to mention the IS statement and hinted, without providing evidence, of a possible Ukrainian connection to the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials have vigorously denied the allegations.
Peskov also said the Kremlin was not involved in calls by parliamentarians and other top officials and pro-Kremlin media personalities to restore the death penalty following the Crocus City Hall attack.
"We are not taking part in the discussion at the moment," Peskov said.
