Teenagers honoured for brave acts during Moscow terrorist attack

Islam Khalilov and Artem Donskov, two teenagers who demonstrated remarkable bravery and altruism by assisting in the evacuation of individuals during the recent terrorist incident at Crocus City Hall, have been honoured by Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, in a tribute to their actions.

According to Kommersant, the teenagers were presented with certificates acknowledging their "selflessness, courage, and personal bravery in aiding the victims" during the harrowing incident.

Fifteen-year-old Islam Khalilov was able to lead more than 100 people out of the Crocus City Hall. His remarkable act of heroism caught the attention of the spiritual leader of Russian Muslims, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin, who is set to present him with a prestigious award at the Cathedral Mosque in Moscow.

In the wake of the tragic events at Crocus City Hall, discussions regarding the need to enhance control over migrant influx into the country have gained momentum within governmental circles.

According to reports from Caliber.Az, citing Russian media sources, a representative from the Russian Foreign Ministry highlighted the potential acceleration of efforts aimed at tightening control over migrant arrivals following the terrorist attack.

"It is about giving more organization to the process, increasing control over the compliance of newcomers with our migration laws. The tragedy at Crocus will apparently influence this work in order to accelerate it," the agency's source emphasized.

To recap, four gunmen on March 22 night stormed the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a northern Moscow suburb, and began firing on some of the estimated 6,000 people who were attending a rock concert. The attackers also set fires which engulfed the venue and caused the roof to collapse.

Russian authorities said 137 people were killed and more than 100 injured.

The men who appeared in court on March 24 were arrested in the Bryansk region around 14 hours after the attack, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said. Bryansk is around 400km (250 miles) south-west of Moscow.

IS had already claimed the attack, stating that it was carried out by a branch known as the Islamic State in Khorasan, or IS-K.

It later released graphic footage of the attackers firing on the crowd inside the concert hall. The video has been verified as genuine by the BBC.

However, no Russian official has acknowledged the claim, instead suggesting - without evidence - that the attackers were being helped by Ukraine and Kyiv had "prepared a window" to allow them to cross the border and escape into Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on March 24 rejected the claims, and his military intelligence directorate said it was "absurd" to suggest the men were trying to cross a heavily mined border, teeming with hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers, to reach safety.