The correspondent reported from the site that at least three camouflaged men without masks stormed into the hall through a parterre between the second and third bells around 8:00 p.m. Moscow time (17:00 GMT), a few minutes before the concert began. They fired at people at point-blank range and threw incendiary smoke bombs.
Security guards pointed those who managed to get out of the hall to the evacuation exits, and the guards themselves remained in place, the correspondent reported.
Earlier in the day, a shooting occurred in the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside Moscow to the northwest, followed by a massive fire. According to preliminary data, several armed men opened fire inside the venue. Emergency and security services are responding to the crisis. Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into a terrorist attack.
According to the latest data from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), 40 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured.