The horrific footage released by IS, showing assailants firing on the crowd inside the music hall, has been authenticated as real by the BBC.

However, no Russian official has recognized the accusation, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a press conference on Monday that it was inappropriate to comment on it until the inquiry had been concluded.

He also added that, due to the current international climate, there was minimal collaboration between countries on battling terrorism.

France has increased its terror warning to the highest level, with President Macron claiming on Monday that the Islamic State organization behind the Moscow attack has also recently been targeting France.

Mr. Macron also urged Russia against trying to exploit the incident to blame Ukraine, describing such a move as cynical and counterproductive.

Rescuers are continuing to search the ruins of the performance hall for victims, and regional officials said the effort would carry on through Tuesday afternoon.

The four suspects were named by Russian officials as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov.

Video shows three of them being marched, bent double, by masked police into Basmanny district court in the Russian capital.

All appeared to have been beaten; footage of severe interrogation sessions was purportedly leaked by Russian security officials, and reports suggest at least one had experienced electric shocks. Asked about the alleged torture, Mr. Peskov refused to comment.

The males the court identified as Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda had black eyes, and the latter’s ear was tightly bandaged, reportedly from it having been partially severed during his detention. Mirzoyev also looked to have a torn plastic bag wrapped around his neck.

The face of the man identified as Fariduni was significantly swollen, while the man named Fayzov appeared to lose consciousness as he was wheeled into court in a wheelchair wearing a thin hospital robe.

He seemed to have one eye missing, according to the Reuters news agency. All were confined in a glass-panelled booth and guarded by masked police during their time in court.

A court announcement on the Telegram messaging service said Mirzoyev had “admitted his guilt in full,” while Rachabalizoda had “admitted guilt.”. The males were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, Russia’s state news service, Tass, claimed.

All four are to be held in pre-trial detention until at least May 22, the court stated. The incident has prompted doubts about Russia’s moratorium on the death sentence, with numerous high figures pressing for it to be lifted. However, Mr Peskov claimed the Russian authorities “are not taking part in this

On Friday night, four shooters invaded the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a northern Moscow neighborhood, and began firing on some of the estimated 6,000 people who were attending a rock concert. The assailants also started fires, which enveloped the venue and caused the roof to fall. Russian authorities say 137 people were killed and more than 100 injured.

The guys who appeared in court on Sunday were arrested in the Bryansk region roughly 14 hours after the incident, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said. Bryansk lies roughly 400km (250 miles) south-west of Moscow.

Officials have indicated, without evidence, that the assailants were being supported by Ukraine, and Kyiv had “prepared a window” to allow them to cross the border and escape into its territory.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday denied the claims, and his military intelligence directorate said it was “absurd” to think the troops were trying to cross a highly mined border, teeming with hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers, to seek safety.

Adrienne Watson, the US national security council spokeswoman, claimed that IS held “primary responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever.”. Seven more people have been arrested in Russia, suspected of helping the attack.

The US alerted Moscow earlier this month of a possible strike in Russia aimed at big crowds before releasing a public advisory to citizens in the nation.

The notice was roundly denounced by the Kremlin as propaganda and an attempt to intervene in its presidential election. Washington declared after the attack that it had no reason to reject the IS claim. It would not be the first time IS and its allies have attacked Russia or its interests overseas.

The group claimed the bombing of a Russian airplane over Egypt in 2015 with 224 people on board, most of them Russian citizens. It also claimed a 2017 bomb attack on the St. Petersburg subway, which killed 15 people.

Security analysts say the group considers Russia a primary target for a number of reasons, including the country’s role in destroying IS’s powerbase in Syria while securing President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, Moscow’s two brutal wars in Muslim-majority Chechnya in 1994–2009, and the Soviet-era invasion of Afghanistan.

The US and other Western intelligence services have stated the attack was probably carried out by the Khorasan branch of IS, known as Isis-K, which mostly operates in Afghanistan and areas of Central Asia.

It is among the most able and active of the IS offshoots and was responsible for devastating suicide assaults at Kabul airport during the chaotic American departure of August and September 2021. Isis-K routinely criticises President Vladimir Putin in its propaganda.