Monday marks the start of the trial of 19 individuals who are alleged to have been involved in the 149-person attack on a concert hall in Moscow last year.
In one of the worst assaults in Russian history, armed attackers entered the Crocus City Hall music venue on March 22 of last year, opened fire, and then set the building on fire.
There were hundreds of injuries. The group known as the Islamic State (IS) claimed accountability.
Trials were scheduled for the four suspected assailants, who were all from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, and 15 other individuals who were alleged to have been accomplices.
According to a Moscow court website, the first three hearings were scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
The attack shocked Russia, which was battling Ukraine in a military offensive that it started on February 24, 2022.
Despite the IS claim of responsibility, Russia implicated Ukraine in the attack, an allegation that Kyiv called baseless and absurd.
Nearly half of the victims were killed by smoke and carbon monoxide inhalation from the fire that broke out, not from gunfire, the state TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing case materials.
The attack sparked a wave of xenophobia against Central Asian migrants in Russia.
