Armed men stormed the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow on March 22 last year, opening fire and then setting the building alight, injuring hundreds of people.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility.

The four suspected attackers, all from Tajikistan – an ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia – and another 15 people accused of being accomplices have gone on trial.

An AFP reporter at the courtroom saw some of the defendants in glass cages, their hands cuffed behind their backs.

Around 30 survivors were also present.

Subsequent hearings are to take place tomorrow and Thursday, according to the court’s website.

The attack shocked Russia, which was battling Ukraine in a military offensive that it started on Feb 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 yesterday, citing case materials.

The attack sparked a wave of xenophobia against Central Asian migrants in Russia.