At least 139 people were killed in a lightning strike at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow, which seats more than 6,000 people, on Friday.
This attack was one of the biggest in the history of modern Russia, surpassing even 2002. the Nord-Ost terrorist attack.
According to the investigation committee’s calculations, the operation lasted only 13 minutes for the four terrorists. 7:58 p.m. they got out of a car near the Crocus City Hall Mall and entered the building through the main entrance without encountering any resistance, firing automatic rifles at passers-by.
Continuing the indiscriminate shooting, the terrorists entered the concert hall, where the Piknik concert was to begin in a few minutes. There they fired the remaining ammunition (regarding 500 rounds in total) and set fire to the hall with the gasoline they had brought with them. 8:11 p.m. left the building, got into the same car and managed to drive almost 400 km from Moscow before being detained in the Bryansk region.
As Crocus City Hall owner billionaire Araz Agalarov said the other day, the concert hall was guarded only by “controllers” with batons and electric shocks. In his opinion, no amount of security might protect visitors from people with automatic weapons: “This is a military operation. What can the Security Service do?’
Experts interviewed by The Moscow Times believe that the multi-thousand-capacity concert hall has become an easy target for terrorists because of unclear and contradictory legislation, when the owner of the venue decides how to organize the protection of visitors.
The security of mass events in large cultural institutions is regulated by the 2017 federal government resolution no. 176 and the law “On private detective and security activities”, noted the lawyer of the Institute of Law and Public Policy, Vitalijus Isakovas.
However, the norms are rather vague: for example, they do not specify exactly how many ambulances should be on duty at such events, whether security guards should be armed, and how exactly the work of organizers and all levels of government should be coordinated. The main requirement is the security passport of the facility, which is prepared immediately following the facility is put into operation:
“This passport is prepared by law enforcement authorities. It specifies the security requirements for a particular facility, including the type and number of weapons for security personnel at the facility. The head of the organization managing the cultural object and the officials appointed by him must comply with these requirements. Passports are not published so that would-be offenders do not know the strength of the enemy.
The government’s resolution also states that mass events are organized together with territorial security institutions, but the exact coordination mechanism is not specified.
It also states that “forces and means of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation and the military of the National Guard” must be as close as possible to “places of mass presence of people in order to be able to respond promptly to changes in the operational situation.”
“Events of this level in large concert and other halls are coordinated with police officers. In addition, they are often combined with the Federal Security Service, which oversees certain strategic objects, places of mass gathering of people. Usually, in addition to police officers, officers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other services are involved. Together they give instructions to the owner [dėl saugumo]”, lawyer Konstantinas Erochinas told the publication.
VIDEO: What does the Crocus City Hall concert hall look like following the terrorist attack?
At the same time, anti-terrorism legislation often conflicts with fire prevention regulations, noted Russian security forces expert and Yale University visiting scholar Kirill Titaev:
The regulation of fire exits is a constant battle between the Ministry of Emergency Situations and law enforcement authorities. In the world of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, all doors in the building must be free, easy to open, etc. And according to all anti-terrorist norms, bars must be on the windows and doors must be closed.
Since there are no clear requirements, the owners of various public facilities have different approaches to security, Bulat Shakirov, president of the Union of Shopping Centers, emphasized to The Moscow Times. Some independently train fighters to protect shopping centers.
“This practice has been in place for a year and a half. Armed emergency response teams operate in shopping malls. Today I spoke with the manager of one of the largest centers in Moscow. He says that they have been doing weekly training for a year and a half now because the events (in Ukraine) made it relevant. If the situation had happened at their place, the number of casualties would be lower because the guys are constantly training – they have an armory, they have long-barreled weapons and many other things.
Aleksandr Khinstein, a State Duma deputy close to the security forces, said following the attack that Crocus security guards had firearms, but they were kept in a weapons room in an adjacent building. The emergency response team was also sitting there, which, according to him, did not attend the terrorist attack.
VIDEO: In Moscow, before a concert, men wearing camouflage shot at people
A festival organizer in one of the Ural regions says on condition of anonymity that he is coordinating every step with the police. Organizers employ two security agencies: one to provide armed security and the other to check for explosives.
They check everyone at the entrance, and the day before the event they check the whole building, every corner. A cynologist with a dog checks even the scene. If, as the media claims, the explosives were brought into Crocus City Hall in advance, then there was no thorough inspection.
Contracts with security agencies and acts of completed work are sent to the police and only then is permission to organize the event obtained.
“During the entire festival, the police sit on guard at the desk. When we’re done, I call them and say, guys, it’s fine, thanks. They usually double check that all the kids have left the building, and it’s only when the last person leaves that we all exhale.”
Festivals usually have an ambulance and fire brigade on duty.
Finally, how exactly the security of the venue is organized, whether it will be armed, depends on the owner of the venue – in this case, billionaire Araz Agalarov, lawyer V. Isakov concluded.
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2024-03-28 17:04:59
