Overview

• Victims told the court the assailants conversed and shouted in Arabic during the March 2024 assault, according to accounts relayed by RIA Novosti.
• Testimony cited by TASS described hearing a female voice speaking Arabic over a phone call with two attackers, a detail presented as a witness recollection.
• One survivor said gunmen shot people in the back, while those who feigned death later escaped the auditorium after it was set on fire.
• A witness reported passing through metal detectors at the entrance but said uniformed female security staff did not perform additional searches.
• The Second Western District Military Court is trying 19 defendants in the case, with 13 charged with terrorism, and investigators attribute 149 deaths, one missing person, and 609 injuries.