Russia is demanding that Ukraine hand over all those who have been connected to terrorist acts committed in Russia, including the head of Ukraine's SBU Security Service, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The SBU immediately dismissed the demand as "pointless".

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry listed violent incidents that have occurred in Russia since the conflict broke out in February 2022, including bombings that killed the daughter of a prominent nationalist and blogger, and an incident in which a writer was seriously hurt.

The ministry said investigations of these incidents showed that "the traces of these crimes lead to Ukraine".

"Russia has turned over to Ukrainian authorities its demands… for the immediate arrest and extradition of all those connected to the terrorist acts in question," the statement said.

"Ukraine's violation of its obligations under anti-terrorist conventions will result in it being held to account in international legal terms.

"The Russian side demands that Kyiv immediately cease all support for terrorist activity, extradite guilty parties and compensate the victims for damages."

The statement also referred to the recent mass shooting at a concert hall in Moscow in which 144 people died.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's most important criminal investigation body, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Sunday that work was proceeding to determine who was behind the attack.

SBU head Vasyl Maliuk earlier acknowledged that his agency was behind attacks on the bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland since Russia's special military operation in Ukraine began.

Maliuk last week dismissed Moscow's calls to arrest him, after giving a television interview detailing extra-judicial killings of Ukraine's opponents in Russia.

Stepping up campaign

On the front line, the Russian Defense Ministry said its air force has conducted a massive strike on objects of energy infrastructure and the gas industry inside Ukraine.

For over a week, Russia has stepped up an airstrike campaign against Ukrainian energy facilities, leaving many fearing a return to blackouts seen during the first winter of the full-scale conflict.

Ukraine's largest private energy firm DTEK said on Saturday that five of its six plants had been damaged or destroyed with 80 percent of its generating capacity lost, and that repairs could take up to 18 months.

Ukrainian energy company Centrenergo also announced that the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant, one of the largest in the northeastern Kharkiv region, was completely destroyed following Russian shelling last week. Power outage schedules were still in place for about 120,000 people in the region, where 700,000 had lost electricity after the plant was hit on March 22.

In a message on Sunday to mark the date when some of Ukraine's Christians celebrate Easter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the country to persevere.

Meanwhile in Russia, 10 Czech-made Vampire rockets landed in the Belgorod region on Sunday, the Ministry of Defense said.

One woman was injured when a fire broke out following the attack, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Another woman was killed as shelling hit villages along the Russian border.

MOSCOW  -- Four suspects detained Sunday in Russia's Dagestan Republic on terrorism charges were directly involved in the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday.

The suspects provided money and weapons to the concert hall attackers, the FSB said in a statement, adding that they were also allegedly plotting a terrorist attack in a park in the city of Kaspiysk.

One of the suspects confirmed that he brought weapons from the city of Makhachkala and handed them to the concert hall attackers, according to footage published by the FSB.

The four suspects were detained in the cities of Makhachkala and Kaspiysk in Dagestan on Sunday during a special counter-terrorism operation.

Automatic weapons, ammunition and a ready-to-use improvised explosive device were found where the suspects were detained.

MOSCOW - The death toll from the terrorist attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall has risen to 144, and the injuries amount to 551, local authorities said Saturday.

As of 6 am (0300 GMT) Saturday, the dead included five children while 10 other children were injured, said the Department of Emergency Situations of the Moscow Region on its website.

On March 22, gunmen attacked the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the northwest of Moscow, and set fire in the building.

As many as 143 people are still missing after last week's attack near Moscow when gunmen sprayed concertgoers with automatic weapons and set the venue on fire, a Russian state news outlet reported on Wednesday.

The official toll from the attack on Crocus City Hall now stands at 140 dead and 182 wounded. But the state Tass news agency quoted Russia's Investigative Committee as saying that 143 more people appeared in lists compiled by the emergency services based on appeals from people about missing relatives.

In addition, the Investigative Committee said 84 bodies had been identified, including the bodies of five children.

"Molecular genetic tests are being conducted to establish the identities of the rest of the dead people," the committee said.

Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, presented an award on Tuesday to a 15-year-old boy who saved more than 100 people during the attack.

The teenager worked part-time at the Crocus City Hall concert venue as a cloakroom attendant and was on duty when the shooting occurred.

The boy saw people panicking. He loudly announced that he was an employee, he knew where the exits were, and pointed the way out.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that it was "extremely hard to believe" that Islamic State would have had the capacity to launch the attack.

At a briefing with reporters, Zakharova instead doubled down on Moscow's assertions, for which it has not yet provided evidence, that Ukraine was behind the attack on the Crocus City Hall, the deadliest Russia has suffered in 20 years.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the massacre and United States officials said they have intelligence showing it was carried out by the network's Afghan branch, Islamic State Khorasan. Ukraine has repeatedly denied it had anything to do with the attack.

But Zakharova said the West had rushed to pin responsibility on Islamic State as a way of deflecting blame from Ukraine and the Western governments that support it.

"In order to ward off suspicions from the collective West, they urgently needed to come up with something, so they resorted to ISIS, pulled an ace out of their sleeve, and literally a few hours after the terrorist attack, the Anglo-Saxon media began disseminating precisely these versions," she said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said earlier the attack was carried out by extremists, but has suggested it was to Ukraine's benefit and that Kyiv may have played a role.

Meanwhile, in remarks to Russian air force pilots on Wednesday, Putin said Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic. But if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine, they will be shot down by Russian forces.

Putin said the US-led military alliance had expanded eastward toward Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, but that Moscow had no plans to attack a NATO state.

"We have no aggressive intentions toward these states," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.

Putin said the F-16 could also carry nuclear weapons.

"Of course, if they will be used from airfields in third countries, they become for us legitimate targets, wherever they might be located," Putin said.

Putin's remarks followed comments earlier in the day by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.

Ukraine has sought F-16s for many months. Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among countries that have pledged to donate F-16s. A coalition of countries has promised to help train Ukrainian pilots in their use.

Agencies contributed to this story.

MOSCOW -- Russian Investigative Committee said Thursday that it has found evidence connecting terrorists from the Crocus City Hall attack in suburban Moscow with "Ukrainian nationalists."

"After working with detained terrorists, studying the technical devices seized from them, and analyzing information about financial transactions, evidence was obtained of their connection with Ukrainian nationalists," the committee said on Telegram.

The committee said that it had confirmed data showing that the terrorists received "significant amounts of money and cryptocurrency from Ukraine, which were used in the preparation of the crime."

The committee also noted another suspect involved in a terrorist financing scheme has been identified and detained.

MOSCOW -- The number of injuries from last week's terror attack on the Crocus City Hall in a suburb of Moscow has risen to 360, local media reported Wednesday.

"As of Wednesday morning, 360 people, including 11 children, were injured as a result of the terrorist attack," the TASS news agency reported, citing the Federal Disaster Medicine Center.

According to the center, 92 people have been hospitalized, 63 others already been discharged, and outpatient care was provided to 205 people.

Earlier on Monday, Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, said the deaths from Friday's terrorist attack had risen to 139.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said Tuesday that the rising toll of injuries is from individuals in shock leaving the scene without immediately seeking medical care.

European countries, including France and Italy, are stepping up security in the wake of the recent terrorist attack at a concert hall in Moscow that killed 139 people.

It came as Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Monday that Friday's attack was carried out by extremists, but suggested it was also to the benefit of Ukraine and that Kyiv may have played a role.

Putin made the remarks during a Kremlin meeting as France joined the United States in saying intelligence indicated Islamic State was responsible for the killings.

In France, the government upgraded the terror threat level to its maximum on Sunday, with the country a frequent target of the Islamic State terror group, which has claimed responsibility for Friday's bloodshed.

The highest alert of the "Vigipirate" system means that security forces will maintain a more visible presence on French streets and be posted in front of possible targets such as government buildings, transport infrastructure or schools.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the ISIS entity believed to be behind the killings — known as Khorasan, or ISIS-K, an offshoot of ISIS in Afghanistan and Pakistan — had also sought to attack France.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the Paris Olympics, which begins on July 26, were an obvious future target.

French organizers have faced persistent questioning over their choice of the opening ceremony, which is set to take place outside of the athletics stadium for the first time.

Athletes are instead set to sail down the Seine River in a flotilla of riverboats in a made-for-TV extravaganza that has been resisted by some security officials because of the challenges for police.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that 4,000 extra soldiers would be deployed nationwide in the days to come.

Threat real

"The terrorist threat is real, it's strong," he told reporters, adding that two plots had been thwarted already this year.

Similar measures were also announced in Italy. While the security threat level had already been raised to maximum immediately after the attack, the latest measures are focused on boosting safety over Easter.

At least 10.5 million Italians are expected to travel during the Easter holidays, according to a survey by Italy's hotel and tourism association Federalberghi.

Many foreign tourists also visit Italy during this period, with the number estimated at 3.3 million during Easter 2023.

In Denmark, the security alert was raised last week due to an increased terrorism threat. The threat level will now remain at maximum.

In the United Kingdom, the current national threat level stands at "substantial" or midlevel, the third highest in the country's five-tier system.

Gunmen stormed Moscow's Crocus City Hall on Friday evening before setting the building on fire. Hundreds of Russians have laid flowers outside the hall to remember the victims.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, told the Kremlin meeting the death toll had risen to 139, with 182 people wounded.

Four men of Tajik origin were remanded in custody on terrorism charges at a Moscow court. Three others, also of Tajik origin, were remanded in custody on suspicion of complicity.

"We know that the crime was carried out by the hand of radical Islamists with an ideology that the Muslim world has fought for centuries," Putin said in remarks posted on the Telegram messaging app.

He did not directly mention the IS group and said the assailants had been trying to flee to Ukraine, saying there were "many questions" to be examined.

"The question that arises is who benefits from this?" Putin said. "We know by whose hand the crime against Russia and its people was committed. But what is of interest to us is who ordered it."

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.

MOSCOW-- The terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue was prepared by radical Islamists, and the Ukrainian intelligence services were directly involved, said Director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov.

"We believe that the attack was prepared by radical Islamists, and naturally Western intelligence services also contributed to this," Bortnikov said in an interview with TV broadcast Rossiya 1, adding that Ukrainian special services were "directly involved."

The Western intelligence and Ukraine needed the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack to create panic in Russian society, he noted.

Previously, Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly rejected claims of Ukraine's involvement in the attack.

A shooting occurred Friday in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in suburban Moscow, followed by a massive fire. The Russian Investigative Committee said that at least 139 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.

MOSCOW -- The Moscow Basman District Court on Monday approved the detention of three more people involved in Friday's terrorist attack at a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow.

The detainees are members of the same family: Isroil Islomov, the father, and his two sons, Dilovar Islomov and Aminchon Islomov. They face charges of group terrorism and will be held until May 22. If convicted, they could receive life sentences.

Chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said the Islomovs provided the terrorists with "an apartment for living, a car for transportation, and transferred funds."

According to the investigation, the Islomov brothers were drawn into the terrorist group in early 2024.

Local media reports said the Islomovs were born in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Isroil has Tajikistani citizenship and a Russian residence permit, while both Dilovar and Aminchon are Russian nationals and work as taxi drivers.

Currently, Aminchon denies the allegations.

The Russian Federal Security Service had previously reported the arrest of 11 suspects linked to the terrorist attack, four of whom executed the assault.

Friday's terrorist attack occurred at the Crocus City Hall in the suburbs of Moscow, resulting in 139 deaths and 182 injuries to date.

France fears it could be a target for terrorists looking to replicate Friday's concert hall attack in Moscow that killed at least 137 people.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X that the country has raised its terror alert — known as the Vigipirate system — to its highest level as a result.

With the nation set to host the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, Attal said the government made the decision after a meeting on Sunday of the National Defense and Security Council that was chaired by President Emmanuel Macron.

Attal said the change was necessary "in light of the Islamic State's claiming responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country".

The state-owned international news channel France 24 said the threats included emails sent to students that said there would be attacks at high schools in the country's north.

Macron said on Monday that France had information that "an entity of Islamic State… planned the (Moscow) attack and carried it out", AFP reported. He added "this particular group made several attempts (at attacks) on our own soil".

Reuters said Attal's office explained: "The claim for the Moscow attack comes from the Islamic State in Khorasan. This organization is threatening France and has been involved in a number of recent foiled attacks in several European countries, including Germany and France."

Russia has arrested and charged four men it believes carried out the attack at the 6,200-seat Moscow venue. It was the deadliest outrage the nation has endured for two decades.

France has a three-tier terror alert system, with the highest level triggered by an attack in France or overseas, or by the threat of an attack on French soil.

The highest alert makes it possible for the nation to introduce unusual security measures, including armed patrols in public places such as transport hubs and religious sites.

France had been on the middle-level terror alert since January but the level was likely to have been raised as the Olympic Games approached, with the high-profile event set to attract an estimated 15 million visitors to Paris between July 26 and Aug 11.

France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin recently said security concerns fed into the decision to issue only 326,000 tickets for the Olympic Games' opening ceremony, instead of the 1 million initially planned. The event will be held at an outdoor venue for the first time, instead of the usual indoor setting, which makes it much harder to control in terms of security.

Sky News said France has been the European Union nation most impacted by Islamist terrorism in recent years, with 82 attacks recorded between 1979 and May 2021 resulting in 332 deaths.

MOSCOW — Russia on Monday cast doubt on assertions by the United States that the Islamic State militant group was responsible for a gun attack on a concert hall outside Moscow which killed 137 people and injured 182 more.

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.

Four men, at least one a Tajik, were remanded in custody for terrorism. They appeared separately, led into a cage at Moscow's Basmanny District Court by Federal Security Service officers, Reuters reported.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, a claim which the United States has publicly said it believed, and the militant group has since released what it says is footage from the attack. US officials said they warned Russia of intelligence about an imminent attack earlier this month.

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 US assertions that the Islamic State, which once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, was behind the attack.

"Attention — a question to the White House: Are you sure it's ISIS? Might you think again about that?" Zakharova said in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

Zakharova said the US was spreading a version of the "bogeyman" of Islamic State to cover its "wards" in Kyiv and reminded readers that Washington supported the "mujahideen" fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s.

The US has intelligence confirming Islamic State's claim of responsibility two US officials said on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said France has information that the Islamic State carried out Friday's attack in a Moscow concert hall, 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".

France raises alert level

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

Near the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow, a somber sea of Russian citizens of all ages converged to pay their respects to the victims of Friday's terrorist attack.

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

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 on 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.

AGENCIES—XINHUA

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

The committee's investigation has established the full chronology of the terrorist attack, Bastrykin said, adding that preliminary findings of the investigation suggest that the terrorist attack was carefully planned and prepared.

Earlier Monday, the Investigative Committee requested the arrest of three more suspects. The three suspected terrorist accomplices provided the armed terrorists with an apartment and a car, and transported money, Bastrykin said.

A Moscow court has ordered the detention of four suspects in the largest terrorist attack in Russia in nearly two decades, as the country held a national day of mourning on Sunday for victims of the attack, which killed at least 137 people and injured 180.

The suspects, who are accused of shooting concertgoers at a 6,200-seat music hall in suburban Moscow on Friday evening and setting the building on fire, appeared before Basmanny District Court late on Sunday. Their identities were confirmed for the first time, and they were placed in custody pending trial.

The four were charged on Sunday at the court with acts of terrorism in connection with the attack.

All the suspects were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, 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 Tajik government's press service said on Sunday.

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.

On Sunday, the suspects were led into the headquarters of the committee in Moscow for questioning, their hands tied and their eyes covered with bandages and scarves.

They were then transported to the Basmanny court, where they were accused of terrorism and placed in pretrial detention until May 22 as the investigation into the attack is conducted.

The suspects were brought before the court and media individually, each sitting in a glass box, and three of them pleaded guilty to all charges, Tass said.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack. It shared a photograph taken before the attack of the four alleged assailants with a black ISIS flag, as well as a graphic video made by one of the attackers during the rampage.

Friday's attack was the deadliest on Russian territory since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 hostages. Over 300 people died, more than half of them children.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said Russia would target those behind the deadly shooting wherever they are from and whoever they are.

Medvedev had previously spoken of the need to meet "death with death", and some lawmakers have begun to discuss whether the death penalty should be reintroduced.

Russia's Federal Security Service said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border.

The claim was dismissed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement on the social media platform X on Sunday that "there is no evidence to support such claims".

The White House said that Washington had shared information with Moscow early this month about a planned attack, and issued a public advisory to United States citizens in Russia on March 7. It said Islamic State bore sole responsibility for the attack.

"Nothing was passed," Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov responded early on Sunday, saying that Washington did not share any specific information with the embassy before the terrorist attack.

MOSCOW - The four individuals directly involved in the Moscow concert hall attack have been charged with terrorism, local media reported on Monday.

A Moscow district court sent all the four suspects, identified as citizens of Tajikistan, to pre-trial detention. They will remain in custody until May 22, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

On Friday night, gunmen fired indiscriminately at concertgoers at Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow, leaving at least 137 people dead. A large blaze later led to the collapse of the building's roof.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that preliminary investigation showed the Ukrainian side was preparing a "window" for the perpetrators to cross the border. He promised to identify and punish all those behind the attack and declared March 24 a day of national mourning.

More than 130 people have been killed in Friday's terrorist attack in Moscow's Crocus City Hall, according to the Investigative Committee of Russia.

The attack claimed by the Islamic State was condemned by leaders from around the world.

Here is what some of them have been saying:

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

Antonio Guterres strongly condemned Friday's terrorist attack in Russia, said his deputy spokesman.

The secretary-general condemns "in the strongest possible terms" the terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow, said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman, in a statement.

The secretary-general conveys his deep condolences to the bereaved families and the people and the government of Russia, and wishes those injured a speedy recovery, said the statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron "strongly condemns the terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State", according to the Elysee Palace.

"France expresses its solidarity with the victims, their loved ones and all the Russian people," the presidential office said.

"The images from Moscow tonight are horrifying. Our thoughts go to the victims and to those injured as well as to the Russian people. All effort has to be made to determine the causes of these heinous acts," the French Foreign Ministry said on Friday on X, formerly Twitter.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the deadly Moscow attack as a "heinous crime" and said Washington condemns "terrorism in all its forms."

"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," Blinken said in a statement.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Calling the attack "the massacre of innocent civilians," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said "the Italian government firmly and totally condemns this brutal act of terrorism."

In a statement, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said the world stands united behind the victims of the attack, calling on the international community to fight terrorism.

Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Secretary Kobayashi Maki said that Japan has condemned attacks against civilians.

In a statement, Kobayashi Maki stated, "Japan firmly condemns such an attack against civilians. Japan extends its sincere condolences to the bereaved families, and expresses its heartfelt sympathy to those who were injured."

Pakistani Foreign Ministry

Pakistan on Friday condemned the "horrendous" attack carried out at a concert hall in Moscow, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.

"We express our deepest sympathies with the families of the victims," the ministry said in a late-night statement.

Afghan caretaker government

The government has described the recent attack on a concert hall in the Russian capital Moscow as a cowardly terrorist attack and strongly condemned it, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said Saturday.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest terms the recent terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, claimed by Deash, and considers it a blatant violation of all human standards," Balkhi said in a statement posted on his X account.

Cambodian Foreign Ministry

Cambodia strongly condemned the deadly terrorist attack, said a Cambodian foreign ministry's statement released on Sunday.

"We are shocked by the deaths of dozens of people and hundreds injured in a terrorist attack at the Moscow Crocus Concert Hall on March 22, 2024," the statement said.

Editor's note: Russia observed a national day of mourning on Sunday after the Moscow concert hall massacre on Friday, which President Vladimir Putin called a "barbaric terrorist attack". China Daily looks at the solidarity shown toward the attack victims and the calls made for concerted global efforts to counter terrorism.

The deadly attack on a concert hall outside Moscow on Friday has raised serious concerns about security in Russia, as experts call for increased international collaboration to combat terrorism worldwide.

With the death toll reaching 137, including three children, and more than 150 individuals injured, Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning on Sunday.

It was the deadliest attack on Russian territory since the Beslan school siege nearly 20 years ago, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, hostage. That siege resulted in the deaths of 334 people.

In a televised address, Putin, who called the attack "a bloody, barbaric terrorist act", cast the enemy as "international terrorism" and said he was ready to work with any state that wanted to defeat it.

The Kremlin said Putin had held conversations with the leaders of Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in which all sides affirmed their willingness to work together to fight terrorism, Reuters reported.

Following the attack, Russia bolstered security measures at airports, transportation hubs and throughout Moscow, and large public events across the country were canceled as a precautionary measure.

Wan Qingsong, an associate research professor at the Russian Studies Center of East China Normal University in Shanghai, said Russia now faces significant pressure in tackling extremist threats and maintaining security within its borders.

"Russia has assumed a pivotal role in the global fight against terrorism, exerting significant influence that cannot be ignored. However, it has been grappling with security vulnerabilities, which have been exploited by terrorist organizations, resulting in numerous attacks."

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, had reported that in 2022 a total of 4,729 offenses involving foreign nationals were reported, leading to the opening of 4,231 criminal cases, Wan said. This figure represents a threefold increase compared with the numbers reported in 2021.

"It is evident that behind these recent assaults, there are foreign influences at play, and terrorist entities and operatives have proliferated rapidly, particularly in smaller cities where security measures are weaker," Wan said.

Precarious climate

"So in this precarious security climate, the most important thing is to stabilize the situation and prevent more terrorist incidents and casualties."

Last year the Investigative Committee underscored the prevention of extremist and terrorist crimes as one of its top priorities, Wan said. Putin presided over two pivotal meetings of the Standing Committee of the Security Council.

One such gathering, in February last year, was dedicated to counterterrorism measures, and the other, in October, concentrated on combating the illegal trafficking of weapons and ammunition in Russia.

Experts also said the world must work together to tackle increasing security threats.

After Friday's attack, several countries condemned terrorism and called for a global push to counter it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia condemned what it called "the armed terrorist attack", stressing the "importance of fighting and combating all forms of extremism and terrorism".

Qatar reiterated its "firm position on rejecting violence and terrorism, regardless of motives and reasons".

Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its stance in "rejecting terrorism and violent extremism in all forms and manifestations", and "continues to underscore the urgent need for a concerted international effort to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in a comprehensive and effective manner".

The United Nations Security Council offered its condolences and urged all states "to cooperate actively" with the Russian government and other authorities to hold perpetrators and backers of "these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice".

Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Research Center for the Belt and Road at Lanzhou University in Gansu province, said: "Terrorism presents a common threat to all members of the international community, and no single country can effectively address this global challenge alone. Collaboration among all nations is the sole feasible approach.

"Faced with constraints on deepening international cooperation, Russia may seek to advance its counterterrorism cooperation agenda through engagements with pertinent countries and international bodies because it is going to host the BRICS summit and other international events this year."

Jan Yumul in Hong Kong and agencies contributed to this story.

Catalog of deadly assaults in capital

Here is a timeline of major attacks on Moscow in the past two decades.

1999: A bomb blast on Sept 13 at an eight-story apartment building in southeast Moscow kills 118 people. The attack was one of five on apartment buildings that left 293 people dead over a two-week period in Moscow and southern Russia.

2002: A group of 21 male and 19 female Chechen militias storm Moscow's Dubrovka theater on Oct 23 during a musical and take more than 800 people hostage. The standoff with security forces lasts two days and three nights.

It ends when the security forces inject gas into the theater to overpower the attackers and then storm it. A total of 130 hostages are killed.

2003: Two female suicide bombers, identified by Russia as Chechen separatists on July 5, blow themselves up during a rock concert at the Tushino airfield near Moscow, killing 15 people.

2004: A little-known Chechen group detonates a bomb in a packed Moscow subway during rush hour on Feb 6, killing 41 people.

2011: A suicide bomber strikes in the arrivals hall of Moscow Domodedovo International Airport on Jan 24, killing 37 people.

2021: Two female suicide bombers blow themselves up on the Moscow subway on March 29. Forty people are killed.

MOSCOW -- The death toll from Friday's terrorist attack has risen to 137 after gunmen stormed a concert hall in Moscow, the Investigative Committee of Russia said on Sunday.

MOSCOW - The total number of victims in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow has risen to 285, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said Sunday.

The death toll stands at 133 and the number of injured has risen to 152, according to the ministry.

On Friday night, unidentified gunmen fired indiscriminately at concert-goers at Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow, causing substantial civilian casualties. A large blaze later led to the collapse of the building's roof.

On Saturday, Russia's Federal Security Service revealed that 11 individuals connected to the attack were apprehended, including four direct perpetrators.

In a televised national address on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to identify and punish all those behind the attack and declared March 24 a day of national mourning.

People in Beijing pay tribute in front of the Russian embassy in China to the victims of the concert hall attack that killed 143 people in Moscow's Crocus City.

Video by Russia Today