Tajik national Zubaydullo Ismoilov, one of the defendants in the Crocus City Hall attack, has admitted to illegally acquiring weapons used in the attack from Daghestan, which were then transferred to Ingushetia prior to the attack.
Ismoilov was previously convicted in Tajikistan in 2016 for publicly calling for the violent overthrow of constitutional order. After serving his sentence, he travelled to Russia for work between 2021 and 2023.
The Crocus City Hall attack took place on 22 March 2024. Four armed men wearing camouflage stormed the venue, opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles, and set the premises on fire. According to investigators and medical services, 149 people were killed and around 600 were injured. The total damage from the attack was estimated at around ₽6 billion ($73 million).
A total of 19 people have been formally charged with terrorism and complicity. Another six individuals remain under investigation and may be designated as witnesses or co-conspirators.
In March 2025, the Head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, stated that as many as 27 people were suspects in the Crocus case. Nineteen of them will be tried together, while the cases of eight others have been allocated in separate proceedings. Final charges have been brought against them, with many facing potential life sentences. According to Bastrykin, some alleged accomplices were detained abroad, including in Turkey and the US.
Preliminary hearings began on 21 July behind closed doors at the Moscow Garrison Military Court (Second Western District Court), with three judges present. Case materials reportedly include over 470 volumes, among them more than 200 expert assessments. The main trial is scheduled to begin on Monday at the Moscow City Court.
According to case files, the role of individuals from Ingushetia and Daghestan is central to the investigation.
Currently, four men from Ingushetia are named in the case: Jabrail Aushev and Khuseyn Medov have been detained, while Khavazh-Bagautdin Aliyev and Batyr Kulaev have been declared wanted. Investigators believe they sold weapons to the attackers for ₽1 million ($12,000). According to the investigation, the firearms were purchased in Daghestan, transported to Ingushetia in a vehicle with a hidden compartment, and then brought to Moscow, where they were concealed in a wooded area.
Apart from them, four more suspects from Ingushetia were detained in December — 22-year-old Khusen Kulaev, 27-year-old Makhmud Kartoev, 28-year-old Mansur Tochiev, and 35-year-old Magomed Santaliev.
The investigation also notes arrests in Daghestan of individuals suspected of participating in the transport of weapons and financing the operation.
Lawyers representing the Ingush suspects say their clients deny any involvement in the planning or execution of the terrorist attack. However, they acknowledge that the men participated in the illegal trafficking of weapons and maintain that they had no knowledge of how or where the firearms would be used.
Elizaveta Chukharova
