A still unsettled mystery surrounds the deadly attack that left 139 dead and dozens more injured as Moscow contemplates restoring the death penalty to its legal code. After a moratorium in 1996, Russia halted executions despite the law still allowing capital punishment. On Tuesday, deputy Mikhail Sheremet filed a request with the Russian Constitutional Court asking for the moratorium to be lifted so the punishment could be applied again in the country spanning Europe and Asia.
The lawmaker said he plans to update a long-standing initiative and present a legal basis to the Constitutional Court for revoking the moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, as reported by the state news agency RIA Novosti. He argued that terrorists and their accomplices, along with pedophiles and drug traffickers, should face this form of punishment. He noted that it could be in effect only while the military operation in Ukrainian territory continues.
The debate about capital punishment resurfaced in the wake of Friday night’s attack, with some politicians openly backing it. Among them is Leonid Slutsky, head of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and Sergei Mironov of A Just Russia – For Truth, a party positioned in the center-left. Mironov, known for his staunch support of Wagner mercenaries, has even received hammers used by Wagner fighters as gifts on occasion, underscoring how the issue touches wider security and extremist concerns.
Castigating the guilty
From the same Russian capital, President Vladimir Putin urged the national prosecutors to deliver a “just punishment” to those responsible for Friday’s attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, which claimed 139 lives. Putin told prosecutors to exercise all powers within the law to ensure criminals pay a fair penalty, as dictated by Russian law.
Putin reminded attendees that, as a result of the brutal strike in the Moscow region, victims included children, teenagers, and women. He emphasized that the perpetrators had been arrested and that investigators are diligently examining the circumstances surrounding the barbaric crime.
The attorney general, Igor Krasnov, acknowledged that the Crocus City Hall attack presents a fresh challenge to Russia’s security services and urged prosecutors to take all necessary steps to prevent a repetition of such violence. He also called for intensified efforts to curb extremist and terrorist threats and noted recent violence in the predominantly Muslim republics of Dagestan and Bashkiria.
Putin also intimated the possibility of a foreign hand, suggesting a Ukrainian trace in the assault, despite the Islamic State’s immediate claim of responsibility. He cautioned that the so-called Nazis have a history of employing the dirtiest and most inhumane methods to achieve their aims. Moscow has long depicted Ukraine as an adversary, a narrative tied to the broader conflict and used to justify its stance against Kiev.
The Moscow District Court has ordered two months of pretrial detention for a ninth suspect in the terrorist attack. Alisher Kasimov, a 32-year-old Russian citizen of Kyrgyz origin, is accused of renting out the apartment used by the alleged attackers and is now in custody as part of the investigation. The judge’s decision signals the ongoing legal pursuit of those connected to the plot and the broader security implications for the region.