MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee has drawn a link between the Crocus City Hall attack and Moscow’s special military operation after examining the mobile phones of the attackers, the top investigative body said in a statement.

The terrorists tried to destroy the mobile phones but their expert examination provided important evidence about preparations for the attack. "The evidence may indicate a link between the terrorist attack and the special military operation," the statement reads.

According to investigators, the Crocus City Hall music venue was chosen as a target for the attack based on instructions from the terrorists' handler. "On the morning of February 24, 2024, which marked two years since the launch of the special military operation, one of the accomplices contacted the handler online, sending him screenshots from images of the Crocus City Hall entrances and driveways," the Investigative Committee noted. The defendant confirmed this in his testimony.

"In addition, photos found on his phone show people wearing camouflage uniforms with the Ukrainian flag in front of destroyed buildings and a Ukrainian postal stamp with an obscene gesture," the committee added.

Investigators are working consistently to collect and consolidate evidence of the defendants’ involvement in the crime, identify their accomplices and the masterminds of the terrorist attack.

On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just outside the Moscow city limits. According to the latest data, 144 people were killed and 551 people suffered injuries. Ten people, including four direct perpetrators, have been arrested for their part in the terrorist attack. The Russian Investigative Committee said that investigators had found evidence of the perpetrators’ connection to Ukrainian nationalists.