At least three people in camouflage opened fire at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow on Friday, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
More than 100 people were injured in the shooting, while the concert hall caught fire, according to the correspondent.
"At least three people in camouflage burst into the ground floor of Crocus City Hall and opened fire with automatic weapons. There are definitely wounded," the correspondent said. "After that [the gunmen] threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire."
"People in the hall laid down on the ground to avoid the fire, laying there for about 15-20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out," the correspondent said.
Reports appear on social media about an explosion in the Crocus City Hall building in Moscow. pic.twitter.com/N1KATRCbRC
Law enforcement has arrived and are working at the scene. Local authorities said that "all forces and means have been directed to the scene of the incident," and that "information about victims is being confirmed."
The Emergencies Ministry said about a hundred people have been evacuated from the venue's basement.
Moscow Region governor Andrei Vorobyov is on route to the scene of the emergency, and an operational headquarters has been created. Moscow Mayor has ordered authorities to provide "all necessary assistance," and expressed "condolences to the relatives of the victims."
Members of the musical group Piknik, at whose concert the shooting occurred, were not injured, the director of the show told Sputnik.
Moscow's Department of Transit said the nearby Myakinino metro station is operating as normal, but said that vehicular traffic in and out of the area has been complicated by traffic jams.
❗️The shooting occurred in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, at least 3 people in camouflage opened fire. Some people are wounded, Sputnik correspondent reports.
A White House spokesperson said the United States is aware of the reports of the mass shooting in Moscow, and considers footage from the scene "terrifying." The US Embassy in Moscow and those of other NATO countries have spent the past several weeks warning of a heightened risk of terror attacks in Moscow and other Russian regions, and urging American nationals to avoid traveling to Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has urged the international community to condemn incident at Crocus City Hall, which it characterized as a "terror attack."
Gunung Semeru erupsi terekam CCTV pada Jumat (22/3/2024), pukul 20.59 WIB (ANTARA/HO-PVMBG)
Lumajang, Jawa Timur (ANTARA) - Gunung Semeru di Jawa Timur yang berstatus siaga atau level III mengalami erupsi dengan lontaran abu vulkanik setinggi 1 kilometer di puncak gunung tersebut pada Jumat, pukul 20.59 WIB.
Petugas Pos Pengamatan Gunung Semeru, Ghufron Alwi, dalam laporan tertulis menyebutkan bahwa telah terjadi erupsi Gunung Semeru pada Jumat malam dengan tinggi kolom letusan teramati sekitar 1.000 meter di atas puncak gunung setinggi 4.676 meter di atas permukaan laut itu.
"Kolom abu teramati berwarna putih hingga kelabu dengan intensitas tebal ke arah utara dan timur laut. Erupsi terekam di seismograf dengan amplitudo maksimum 22 mm dan durasi 138 detik," katanya di Pos Pengamatan Gunung Semeru di Desa Sumberwuluh, Kecamatan Candipuro, Kabupaten Lumajang, Jatim.
Sebelumnya, Gunung Semeru juga erupsi pada pukul 17.21 WIB, namun visual letusan tidak teramati dan erupsi itu terekam di seismograf dengan amplitudo maksimum 22 mm dan durasi 121 detik.
Pihak Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologo (PVMBG) memberikan rekomendasi terkait dengan status siaga Gunung Semeru, yakni masyarakat dilarang melakukan aktivitas apapun di sektor tenggara di sepanjang Besuk Kobokan, sejauh 13 km dari puncak (pusat erupsi).
Di luar jarak tersebut, masyarakat diminta tidak melakukan aktivitas pada jarak 500 meter dari tepi sungai (sempadan sungai) di sepanjang Besuk Kobokan karena berpotensi terlanda perluasan awan panas dan aliran lahar hingga jarak 17 km dari puncak.
Masyarakat tidak boleh beraktivitas dalam radius 5 km dari kawah/puncak Gunung Semeru karena rawan terhadap bahaya lontaran batu (pijar).
Masyarakat juga diimbau mewaspadai potensi awan panas, guguran lava, dan lahar di sepanjang aliran sungai/lembah yang berhulu di puncak Gunung Semeru, terutama sepanjang Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, dan Besuk Sat serta potensi lahar pada sungai-sungai kecil yang merupakan anak sungai dari Besuk Kobokan.
Russia and China have vetoed a US-initiated UN Security Council draft resolution on the Middle East conflict, which notes the need for an immediate ceasefire but doesn’t explicitly call for it, a TASS correspondent reported.
According to the correspondent, eleven out of the 15 members of the Security Council, namely the United Kingdom, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Slovenia, the United States, Sierra Leone, France, Switzerland, Ecuador, and Japan, supported the resolution. Along with Russia and China, the draft was voted down by Algeria. Guyana abstained.
The resolution points to the need for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and support international diplomatic efforts towards the ceasefire and hostages release.
It rejects any actions that might reduce the Gaza Strip’s area, including by means of establishing any buffer zones, condemns calls for displacing the Palestinian civilians, and rejects any attempts at demographic or territorial changes in the enclave. Apart from that, the resolution demands that Hamas and other armed groups immediately provide humanitarian access to the hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said earlier that the UN Security Council resolution must contain either a demand or a call for a ceasefire rather than merely note the need for it.
Ahead of the voting, Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya called on UN Security Council member nations not to support the US-initiated document, saying that another draft had been submitted by several non-permanent members. He said he called for supporting this other draft because it unequivocally calls for a ceasefire and unconditional release of hostages.
‘Hypocritical spectacle’: Russia
Moscow accused Washington of a “hypocritical spectacle” that does not pressure Israel.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said the draft was exceedingly politicised and contained an effective green light for Israel to mount a military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Nebenzia said there was no call for a ceasefire in the resolution’s text and accused the US leadership of “deliberately misleading the international community”.
He told fellow ambassadors that if they passed the resolution, “you will cover yourselves in disgrace.”
On Friday, Algeria’s UN ambassador, Amar Bendjama, said that had the Council passed its February resolution, thousands of innocent lives could have been saved. More than 32,000 people – mostly women and children – have been killed since the war began last October.
These figures represent lives and “hopes that have been destroyed”, Bendjama said, adding that the US text made no mention of Israel’s responsibility for their deaths.
Bangunan di Tuban rusak akibat gempa. (Foto: BPBD Tuban)
Tuban Diguncang 8 Kali Gempa Susulan, Terbesar Magnitudo 5,3
Karyawan Kantor di Surabaya Berhamburan Amankan Diri Akibat Gempa Tuban
Gempa Magnitudo 6 Guncang Tuban Hari jumat, 22/03/2024, Tak Berpotensi Tsunami
Gempa yang berpusat di Tuban mengakibatkan infrastruktur dan sejumlah rumah di Pulau Bawean, Kabupaten Gresik, rusak.
Infrastruktur dan sejumlah rumah di Pulau Bawean, Kabupaten Gresik, rusak akibat gempa bumi dengan magnitudo 6 yang berpusat di wilayah Tuban, Jawa Timur atau sekitar 40 km sebelah barat pulau tersebut, Jumat.
"Rumah saya retak beberapa saat setelah gempa," kata Halwiyati, warga Dusun Tanjung Anyar, Desa Lebak, Kecamatan Sangkapura, Bawean.
Demikian juga yang terjadi di Masjid As Sholihin Muhammadiyah di Desa Kotakusuma, Kecamatan Sangkapura, mengalami kerusakan. Beberapa dinding keramik retak dan berjatuhan.
Warga setempat, Kikin, mengatakan masjid itu bangunan lama dan sudah tidak digunakan untuk shalat karena sudah ada masjid yang baru.
Gempa juga berdampak pada bangunan salah satu bank di Bawean. Ada keretakan dinding di ruang ATM. Beberapa warga juga berhamburan keluar rumah. Jendela sekolah SMAN Sangkapura juga mengalami kerusakan akibat gempa.
Sejumlah barang-barang di toko di Pulau Bawean juga berjatuhan dari etalase akibat gempa tersebut. Getaran gempa di Bawean membuat warga panik.
Lalu, di Desa Kumalasa, Kecamatan Sangkapura, Pulau Bawean seorang jamaah mengalami luka-luka dampak gempa setelah shalat Jumat. Korban dijatuhi retakan keramik tiang masjid.
"Korban mengalami luka-luka di sekitar kepala. Kejadian sekitar pukul 12.34 WIB," kata Asep, warga setempat.
Sementara di Kecamatan Tambak, Pulau Bawean, sebuah rumah mengalami keretakan di Desa Telukjatidawang.
"Gempa ini seperti suara pesawat lewat di atas rumah, gluduk-gluduk begitu bunyinya," kata Nur Toatillah, warga Desa Sukaoneng.
Gempa menggoyang Tuban Jatim. (Istimewa)
Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) melaporkan sejumlah daerah di Pulau Jawa mengalami getaran berkekuatan skala intensitas III-IV MMI akibat gempa bumi yang berpusat di wilayah Tuban, Jawa Timur, pada Jumat siang pukul 11.22 WIB.
BMKG mencatat gempa susulan terjadi lebih dari lima kali sejak gempa awal dengan magnitudo 6,0 pada Jumat pukul 11.22 WIB di 132 kilometer timur laut Tuban, Jawa Timur, dengan kedalaman 10 kilometer.
Hingga Jumat pukul 13.18 WIB masih terjadi gempa susulan dengan magnitudo 3,5, sebelumnya terjadi gempa susulan dengan magnitudo 3,0 pada pukul 13.09 WIB, kemudian pukul 13.06 WIB gempa dengan magnitudo 3,6, dan pukul 13.05 WIB gempa dengan magnitudo 4,1. Dari data BMKG, gempa tidak berpotensi tsunami.
Pakar Geologi ITS, mengatakan gempa Tuban Dipicu Sesar Aktif di Laut Jawa
Gempa Magnitudo 6,5 Kembali Guncang Tuban, Getarannya Terasa hingga Jakarta
Rumah dan Balai Desa di Tuban Roboh Terdampak Gempa, Tidak Ada Korban Jiwa
Sejumlah petugas memantau kondisi bangunan rumah yang roboh di Jalan Ngaglik Surabaya, hari Jumat, 22/03/2024. ANTARA/Ananto Pradana
Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Kota Surabaya mencatat sebanyak lima bangunan roboh terdampak gempa yang berpusat di 132 kilometer Timur Laut Tuban, Jawa Timur.
Adapun bangunan yang roboh, di antaranya, Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah (RSUD) Soewandi, bangunan kosong di Jalan Tambak Adi, RS Unair, rumah di Jalan Ngaglik, dan gedung di Jalan Kenjeran Surabaya.
Kepala BPBD Kota Surabaya Agus Hebi Djuniantoro di Surabaya, Jumat, mengatakan bahwa catatan tersebut masih bersifat sementara, karena saat ini semua tim masih menyisir dan mencatat.
"Kami akan terus berkeliling untuk melihat-lihat, terutama di gedung-gedung tinggi, objek vital, seperti rumah sakit dan mal-mal," ucapnya.
Dampak gempa tersebut, kata Hebi, selain bangunan, ada juga korban jiwa yang mengalami dislokasi kaki kanan.
"Atas nama Mohayaroh, warga Kenjeran, dia terkena material bangunan di Jalan Tambak Adi," katanya.
Hebi menjelaskan saat petugas sampai dilokasi, langsung melakukan kordinasi dengan warga sekitar dan menutup akses jalan di tempat kejadian perkara.
Hebi menjelaskan saat petugas sampai dilokasi, langsung melakukan kordinasi dengan warga sekitar dan menutup akses jalan di tempat kejadian perkara.
"Bangunan yang roboh itu kosong, tidak berpenghuni, korbannya seorang pengendara yang kebetulan melintas dan langsung dibawa ke RS Soewandi," ujarnya.
Sementara untuk bangunan lainnya, kata Hebi, ada yang masih belum tertangani, karena sesuatu hal.
"Salah satu rumah di Nganglik itu pemilik rumahnya masih di luar kota, yang gedung di Kenjeran itu kacanya ada yang pecah, juga belum tertangani," tuturnya.
Tak hanya itu, pihaknya juga belum mengetahui total kerugian akibat dampak gempa yang terjadi berulang kali tersebut. "Setelah ada laporan akan kami sampaikan," tuturnya.
Oleh karena itu, ia mengimbau agar masyarakat bisa melaporkan jika ada yang terdampak gempa di Laut Timur Tuban tersebut.
"Yang paling penting, jika ada yang melihat atau butuh evakuasi segera laporkan, akan kami evakuasi," ucap Hebi.
Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) on Friday expanded its list of persons and organizations involved in extremist activities or terrorism to include the LGBT movement. The updated list could be found on the agency’s website.
According to the law, banks are required to freeze the funds of persons included in this list and suspend services to them.
Last November, the Russian Supreme Court upheld the Ministry of Justice’s recognition of the international LGBT movement as extremist. The court also recognized its structural divisions as extremist and banned them.
According to Interfax sources, the law “does not affect the right of citizens to privacy and will not entail any negative legal consequences.” The restrictions are related to the need to comply with the ban on LGBT propaganda, advertising, generating interest, and involvement in the LGBT movement.
In 2022, Russia expanded an existing ban on ‘LGBT propaganda’ to minors by outlawing it altogether. Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, said at the time that the ban would shield “our children and the future of the country from the darkness spread by the US and European states.”
President Vladimir Putin clarified last month that the authorities do not have issues with what members of the community do in their personal lives, as long as they “don’t flaunt it” in public and do not involve children.
The retaliatory attacks disrupted the functioning of industrial enterprises producing and repairing weapons, military equipment and ammunition in Kiev and other regions, according to Russia's military.
Russia has carried out strikes targeting Ukraine's energy facilities, the military-industrial complex, railway junctions and ammunition depots, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced.
"Between March 16 and 22, in response to the shelling of our territory and attempts to break through and seize Russian border settlements, the Armed Forces carried out 49 retaliatory strikes using high-precision long-range air-launched weapons, including Kinzhal aeroballistic hypersonic missiles, other missile systems and unmanned aerial vehicles," the MoD said in a statement Friday.
"As a result of the strikes, decision-making centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, airfield infrastructure facilities, workshops for the repair of weapons and military equipment, storage depots for unmanned aerial vehicles and drone boats, logistics bases, as well as the temporary deployment points for special operations units and foreign mercenaries were hit," the ministry said.
Friday's operations included "a massive strike using high-precision long-range air, sea and ground-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against energy facilities, [Ukraine's] military-industrial complex, railway junctions, arsenals, and places of deployment of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries," the MoD said.
According to the Russian military's information, the attacks left Ukraine's military production and repair facilities in disarray.
Furthermore, the strikes targeted foreign military equipment delivered to Ukraine by its NATO patrons, disrupted the transfer of reserves to the front, and hit Ukrainian and merc forces in rear areas where they were being refitted.
"All the goals of the massed strike have been achieved," the MoD said.
In frontline areas, the Defense Ministry reported battles with Ukrainian forces in five settlements in Kharkov region, two settlements in the Lugansk People's Republic, and fighting to repel Ukrainian attacks in the settlement of Sinkovka, Kharkov region and Terny in the Donetsk People's Republic. "Enemy losses amounted to up to 400 troops, three tanks, three armored fighting vehicles, 25 other vehicles and 19 artillery pieces," the MoD said.
Over the course of the week, Ukrainian forces attempts to break into the Russian border regions of Belgorod and Kursk were repulsed "thanks to the coordinated actions of the forces guarding the state border of the Russian Federation," the MoD said, adding that Ukraine's forces had lost "over 3,000 personnel" and militants, seven tanks, 15 armored vehicles and 17 other vehicles over the course of these operations.
In the DPR, Russian forces continued their advance in the Avdeyevka area of the front, repulsing 42 counterattacks and killing over 2,195 enemy troops, destroying two tanks, 21 armored vehicles, 65 other vehicles and 28 field guns, capturing the Alabastrovaya Railway Station, targeting Ukrainian forces in seven enemy-held settlements, and repelling ten attempted counterattacks, with total Ukrainian losses estimated at 1,885+ troops, six tanks, 13 armored vehicles, 41 other vehicles, 17 artillery pieces and nine ammunition depots.
Behind the lines, Russian missile and drone strikes March 16-22 were said to have hit nine Czech-made Vampir MLRS systems, a German IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile system battery, two US-made counter-battery stations - an AN/TPQ-50 and an AN/TPQ-36, and four Ukrainian Enklav-N, Nota and Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations.
Finally, military aviation and air defense troops were said to have destroyed a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter, shot down two Tochka-U tactical missiles, two S-200 anti-aircraft missiles converted for use for ground attacks, 156 HIMARS, Vampir, Grad, Olha and Uragan rockets, and 992 drones.
Russian Strikes Paralyze Ukraine's Power Grid: Here's What Was Hit
Over half of Ukraine was left without electricity, heating, and Internet connectivity Friday morning in the wake of large-scale Russian precision strikes targeting the country's energy grid.
Ukraine's energy grid experienced the largest attack to date throughout the whole course of the conflict with Russia, Ukrenergo chief Vadim Kudrytsky announced Friday.
"The morning attack...was the largest ever, and was characterized by the use of a combination of weapons. The attack was carried out across different regions of Ukraine, targeting thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as well as the main electricity substations managed by Ukrenergo," Kudrytsky said.
At least two military airfields in the Ivano-Frankovsk and Zhitomir regions were struck, as well as the Starokonstantinov airfield in the Khmelnitsky region, one of the expected deployment areas for Ukraine's as-yet undelivered F-16s. The massive Dnepro Hydroelectric Generating Plant reported a halt to its operations and "very serious" damage. Dnepropetrovsk residents have been asked by authorities to stock up on water due to a disruption in the city's power supply.
Russian strikes on the Ukrainian infrastructure began on October 10, 2022, two days after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge, which, according to the Russian authorities, was backed by Ukrainian special services. Strikes are being carried out on energy and defense industry, military administration, and communication facilities throughout the country. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier stated that Russian troops do not strike residential buildings.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine's Energy Ministry reported "large-scale damage to generation facilities, transmission and distribution systems" and widespread power outages in nearly a dozen regions.
Explosions were reported in regions including Kiev, Kharkov, Sumy, Dnepropetrovsk, the Ukrainian-controlled portion of Zaporozhye, Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnitsky, Kirovograd, Krivoy Rog, and Vinnytsa.
In addition to energy infrastructure, the Russian strikes hit the Kharkov Transport Engineering Plant (part of Ukraine's defense industrial base), with blackouts reported across the city. In Zaporozhye, defense sector-affiliated factory Motor Sich was struck, according to the local underground.
At least two military airfields in the Ivano-Frankovsk and Zhitomir regions were struck, as well as the Starokonstantinov airfield in the Khmelnitsky region, one of the expected deployment areas for Ukraine's as-yet undelivered F-16s. The massive Dnepro Hydroelectric Generating Plant reported a halt to its operations and "very serious" damage. Dnepropetrovsk residents have been asked by authorities to stock up on water due to a disruption in the city's power supply.
Russian strikes on the Ukrainian infrastructure began on October 10, 2022, two days after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge, which, according to the Russian authorities, was backed by Ukrainian special services. Strikes are being carried out on energy and defense industry, military administration, and communication facilities throughout the country. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier stated that Russian troops do not strike residential buildings.
Ukraine's Energy System Subjected to Largest Attack of All Time - Ukrenergo Head
Ukraine's energy system was subjected to the largest attack of all time with group strikes hitting the country's thermal and hydroelectric power plants, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo head Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said on Friday.
"The morning attack on the energy system of Ukraine was the largest of all time, it is characterized by the fact that combined means of destruction were used. The attack was carried out in different regions of Ukraine, on thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as well as on main substations operated by Ukrenergo," Kudrytskyi said.
Damage to energy facilities has been recorded in many regions, especially in Kharkiv, where the scale of damage is greater than in other regions, the official said, noting that the target was power grid facilities in different regions of Ukraine – generation facilities, high-voltage substations, substations of distribution operators.
Russia is at war – Kremlin
Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has turned into full-fledged war after the West became a participant in the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with national media published on Friday.
Moscow will continue to pursue its goal of ensuring that the Ukrainian military cannot pose a threat to Russian citizens or territory, the spokesman told the Argumenti i Fakty newspaper, noting that the country now has four new federal subjects which must be protected and fully liberated from Kiev’s forces.
Peskov stressed that Russia cannot allow the existence on its borders of a state that publicly claims it will seize the Crimean Peninsula as well as Russia’s new territories, referring to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
“We are at war,” Peskov stated, explaining that while the conflict began as a special military operation, as soon as “the collective West became a participant in this on the side of Ukraine, for us it became a war.”
In a phone conversation with journalists later in the day, Peskov explained that despite the conflict “de facto turning into a war,” legally it remains classified in Russia as a special military operation and that nothing has changed in that regard.
The Russian Defense Ministry recently reported that since the start of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, over 13,000 foreign nationals have taken part in the fighting on the side of Kiev’s forces.
Of these fighters, which Moscow describes as mercenaries, some 5,962 have been “eliminated,” according to the ministry. Most of them came from Poland, Georgia, the US, Canada, the UK, Romania, Germany, and France, it reported.
The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, claimed earlier this week that France is preparing its forces for deployment to Ukraine and is allegedly looking to send as many as 2,000 troops to fight for Kiev.
French President Emmanuel Macron has hinted in recent weeks at the possible deployment of NATO forces to Ukraine, stating he could not “exclude” this possibility while branding Russia an “adversary.”
Moscow has warned that such a step would likely lead to a direct clash between Russian and NATO forces, which, according to President Vladimir Putin, would be “one step shy of a full-scale World War III.”
