Members of the “Vilayat Khorasan“ group (part of the “Islamic State“ group), including the perpetrators of the attack on the “Crocus City Hall“ concert hall in the Moscow region, were trained in Turkey, it is clear from the case materials.
“To coordinate the activities between the members of the terrorist organization “Vilayat Khorasan“ and its leaders, to provide housing on the territory of the Republic of Turkey, where members of the terrorist organization were trained to carry out terrorist activities, to organize the crime in the period from 01.06.2023 to 22.03.2024. Fayzov M. Z. (senior) was appointed.
While in Turkey, he acted as a liaison between the organizers and perpetrators of terrorist attacks, organized meetings between the specified persons on the territory of the Islamic State of Pakistan and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan“, the case materials say.
It is also noted that in the period from June 1, 2023 to March 22, 2024, the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in Crocus, Shamsidin Fariduni, Saidakram Rachabalizoda, Dalerjon Mirzoev and Mukhamadsobir Fayzov (the younger brother of the organizer of the terrorist attack), underwent training in Turkey, including firearms skills.
The terrorist attack in the concert hall, which killed 149 people, was carried out on March 22, 2024. After that, four perpetrators tried to flee to Ukraine, but were detained in the Bryansk region and taken to Moscow. Later, accomplices of the attackers in Crocus were also found. It was established that all those detained are connected to "Vilayat Khorasan". The defendants in the case are 19 people - the direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack and their accomplices. The organizers of the crime, including a relative of Fayzov, have not yet been detained.
Four perpetrators of the terrorist attack were recruited by curators from abroad, using Telegram chats popular among radical Islamists, the materials on the case state.
„From 01.06.2023 to 22.03.2024, unidentified persons under the pseudonyms „Sayfullo“, „Ahi“, “Talhi“, “Abumeskin“, Bekov A.I., Hikmatov A.M., located in unspecified places outside the Russian Federation, having convinced themselves that Mirzoev D.B., Fariduni Sh., Rachabalizoda S.M., Fayzov M.Z. firmly adhere to the ideas of the “Vilayat Khorasan“ group, using electronic messaging programs, in the Telegram messenger, etc., offer them to prove their loyalty to the “Vilayat Khorasan“ group, by taking an oath (“bayat“) of allegiance to the leader of the terrorist organization ISIS and to commit terrorist acts in the Moscow region and in Kaspiysk. Mirzoev D.B., Fariduni Sh., Rachabalizoda S.M., Fayzov M.Z., take an oath („bayat“) to follow the instructions of the „curators“, including the organization, planning, preparation, financing and execution of the terrorist act“, the case materials say.
The case documents say that the curators of the terrorist act and its perpetrators met in chats on Telegram and other Internet forums popular among people professing radical views, popular among Islamists.