22 March 2024

DEAR COMRADES we are saddened to report that dozens of innocent people are dead or wounded in a Moscow concert hall attack, this Friday night, after several gunmen in combat fatigues burst into the venue and fired automatic weapons at the crowd.

Between two to five assailants were involved in the attack and also used explosives, causing a massive blaze at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow.

The attack took place as crowds gathered for a concert by "Picnic", a famed rock band, at the hall, which can accommodate over 6,000 people.

Visitors were being evacuated, but some said an unspecified number of people could have been trapped by the blaze.

Fire has engulfed a third of the venue building, and its roof is almost completely engulfed in flames.

More than 70 ambulance crews have been sent to the scene.

The Council of Ministers of the USSR has been convened, as well as the Council of Defense of the USSR, where Comrade Chairman Shavkat Mirimonovich Mirziyoyev is receiving frequent updates. Furthermore, on my authority, the borders of the USSR have been immediately closed, and the Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR have been placed on High Alert. All inbound flights to the USSR have been rerouted.

- A.G. LUKASHENKO
Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
Hero of Socialist Labour.