MOSCOW — Three of the four suspects charged with carrying out the concert hall attack in Moscow that killed more than 130 people admitted guilt for the incident in a Russian court Sunday.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19; and Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The court ordered that the men, all Tajikistan citizens, be held in pretrial custody until May 22.
Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda and Shamsidin Fariduni all admitted guilt after being charged. The fourth, Faizov, was brought to court directly from a hospital in a wheelchair and sat with his eyes closed throughout the proceedings. He was attended by medics while in court, where he wore a hospital gown and trousers and was seen with multiple cuts.
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The other three suspects appeared in court heavily bruised with swollen faces amid reports in Russian media that they were tortured during interrogation by the security services.
One suspect, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, had a heavily bandaged ear. Russian media reported Saturday that one of the suspects had his ear cut off during interrogation. The Associated Press couldn’t verify the report or the videos which purported to show this.
The attack Friday on the suburban Crocus City Hall concert venue killed at least 137 people.
Russian authorities arrested the four suspects Saturday, with seven more detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a nighttime address to the nation, on Saturday. He claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine, something that Kyiv firmly denies.
An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on Russian soil in years. U.S. intelligence officials said they confirmed the IS affiliate’s claim.
Relatives and friends of those still missing waited for news of their loved ones as Russia observed a day of national mourning on Sunday.
Events at cultural institutions were canceled, flags were lowered to half-staff and television entertainment and advertising were suspended, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. A steady stream of people added to a makeshift memorial near the burnt-out concert hall, creating a huge mound of flowers.
The Moscow Region's Emergency Situations Ministry posted a video Sunday showing equipment dismantling the damaged music venue to give rescuers access. Moscow's Department of Health said Sunday it began identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, which will take at least two weeks.
Igor Pogadaev desperately sought any details of his wife's whereabouts after she went to the concert and stopped responding to his messages. He hadn't seen a message from Yana Pogadaeva since she sent him two photos from the music venue.
After Pogadaev saw the reports of gunmen opening fire on concertgoers, he rushed to the site but couldn't find her in the ambulances or among the hundreds of people who made their way out of the venue.
"I went around, searched, I asked everyone, I showed photographs. No one saw anything, no one could say anything," Pogadaev told the AP in a video message.
He watched flames bursting out of the building as he made frantic calls to a hotline for relatives of the victims, but received no information.
As the death toll mounted Saturday, Pogodaev scoured hospitals in the Russian capital and the Moscow region, looking for information on newly admitted patients.
His wife wasn't among the 182 reported injured, nor on the list of 60 victims authorities already identified, he said.
Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant to an Islamic preacher via a messaging app and paid to take part in the raid.
Putin didn't mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia's fight in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.
Russia conducted its third big missile attack on Ukraine in the past four days, and the second to target the capital, Kyiv.Â
Poland demanded an explanation Sunday from Russia after one of its missiles strayed briefly into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the NATO member to activate F-16 fighter jets.
Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command said there was a violation of Polish airspace at 4:23 a.m. by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia against towns in western Ukraine. The object entered near Oserdow, a village in a region near the border with Ukraine, and stayed in Polish airspace for 39 seconds, it said.
In Ukraine, the governor of the Lviv region, Maksym Kozytskyi, said on the Telegram platform that critical infrastructure was hit in Russia's missile strike, but he didn't specify what precisely was struck. No deaths or injuries were reported.
Later, authorities said rescuers put out a fire at a critical infrastructure facility in the Lviv region, which was attacked with missiles and drones at night and in the morning.
The head of Kyiv's military administration, Serhiy Popko, said Russia used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers. According to preliminary data, there were no casualties or damage in the capital, he said.