Europe on terror alert: Brutal ISIS sect that carried out Moscow massacre had already attempted 'several' strikes in France, Emmanuel Macron reveals as security is tightened at Channel ports amid fears of a copycat attack

Europe is now on terror alert following the brutal Moscow massacre, after French president Emmanuel Macron revealed the ISIS offshoot that slaughtered 137 at a concert on Friday tried to carry out 'several' strikes in France. 

France's security alert system, Vigipirate, was pushed to its highest on Sunday, after Macron held an emergency meeting to discuss the already tense security situation in the country, as it prepares to host the 2024 Olympic Games. 

He revealed that ISIS-K, the ultra-brutal ISIS offshoot that Western intelligence believes carried out the attack in Moscow, has 'attempted several times to hit France.'

France's prime minister Gabriel Attal took to X to say: 'Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: emergency attack.' 

French officials today held a meeting to look at specific measures to step up security, such as checking bags on entrance to concert halls or places of worship.

Travellers to and from the UK have been warned by officials at the Port of Dover to expect 'increased border processing times' following Macron's decision to raise France's border security checks.

Italy followed France's lead, implementing increased security checks around Holy Week observances leading up to Easter this weekend.

France's security alert system, Vigipirate, was pushed to its highest on Sunday following the brutal massacre of concert-goers in Moscow (pictured) 

Terror suspect Shamsuddin Fariddun (pictured) was with wires connected to his groin and his mouth foaming 

Emmanuel Macron admitted that ISIS-K 'attempted several times to hit France' 

Russian authorities were seen brutally taking the terrorists captive 

Travellers to and from the UK have been warned by officials at the Port of Dover to expect 'increased border processing times' (File image) 

Both surveillance and checks will be increased, 'paying the most attention to the places of greatest aggregation and transit of people, as well as sensitive targets,' the Italian Interior Ministry said in a statement. Pope Francis has a busy schedule of events in Rome and at the Vatican in the days leading up to Easter Sunday.

In Germany, Interior Ministry spokesperson Cornelius Funke said the threat from Islamic extremists 'remains acute' but authorities' risk assessment hasn't changed so far as a result of the Moscow attack. Germany is set to host the 2024 Euros in the summer. 

In Serbia, secret police officers with machine guns were seen patrolling the streets of Belgrade over the weekend. President Aleksandar Vucic said they and plainclothes police would monitor sports venues and shopping malls in the capital. The measure was criticized by Vucic's opponents as unnecessary and designed to scare the population.

British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt admitted yesterday that the UK should 'absolutely' be concerned about ISIS' comeback following its attack in Moscow. 

Hunt told broadcasters that Europe has to be 'vigilant' to the threat the terror group poses. 

France's security alert system, Vigipirate, was pushed to its highest on Sunday

French soldiers patrol near the Eiffel Tower following the Moscow terror attack 

ISIS-K, the ultra-brutal ISIS offshoot that Western intelligence believes carried out the attack at in Moscow, has 'attempted several times to hit France', Macron revealed

'We are very lucky in this country that we have incredibly impressive intelligence agencies, who have been successful in stopping, in foiling a lot of terrorist threats over recent years.

'But we have to remain vigilant. And if it is Islamic State, they are utterly indiscriminate in what they do. They're prepared to murder in the most horrific way.

'And so that's why I think our hearts go out to everyone who's affected by this, wherever they are in the world, and, yes, we have to make sure that we're on our guard.'

But while Europe has been open in its anxiety about ISIS, Russia has still refused to admit that the terror group was responsible for the attack, instead pinning the blame on Kyiv, assertations Ukraine denies. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned Islamic State in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. Russia has been at war with Ukraine since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

Putin said some people on 'the Ukrainian side' had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame for not securing Russia against such an attack by mentioning Ukraine.

France's prime minister Gabriel Attal (pictured) said: 'Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: emergency attack'

Soldiers patrol in front of Milan gothic cathedral in Italy 

Today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to assign blame, urging the world to wait for the results of the investigation in Russia.

The Kremlin also launched a disinformation campaign targeting the UK, blaming MI6 and other Western intelligence agencies for the Moscow massacre. 

The Telegraph reported that social media bots had been sharing links to fake websites designed to trick people into believing they were real, established news outlets. 

According to a report by Meta, Facebook's parent company, EU-sanctioned Russian IT companies National Technologies and Social Design Agency carried out the attack. 

In the aftermath of the attack, details on Russian authorities' treatment of the terrorists has come to light. 

Leaked video revealed that one of the four terrorists who carried out the Moscow concert hall massacre cried and screamed as he was caught by Russian soldiers, who then went on to cut off his ear and make him eat it.

The Crocus hall smouldered for hours after the attack 

People gather at a makeshift memorial to the victims of a shooting attack set up outside Crocus City Hall

Police officers walk near the Basmanny District Court in Moscow,

Russian border guards and FSB agents were seen furiously battering a man understood to be suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda after chasing him through dense woodlands, in the 90-second-long clip shared to Telegram. 

Moments later, an enraged soldier sliced off Rachabalizoda's ear with a knife and forced him to eat it in a video too gruesome for MailOnline to publish. 

Rachabalizoda is one of four ISIS terrorists who were charged overnight with terrorism, after they were caught, allegedly tortured and detained by Russian security services following the deadly attack at a Moscow concert hall on Friday night. One of the terrorists was seen staking out the venue just a few days before the attack. 

Armed Russian authorities can be seen running through snow and flowing water as they catch up with the terrorist, who is believed to be part of an ultra-brutal sect of ISIS. 

Rachabalizoda can be seen lying on his back in a foetal position after two armed men catch up to him as several dogs surround him as well. 

The 90-second-long footage, shared via Telegram, shows Russian border guards and FSB agents furiously chasing a man understood to be suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda through dense woodlands

Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda was seen with a large bandage on his right ear in court

Shamsidin Fariduni, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, had a severely swollen face

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev was one of the four men suspected of carrying out the attack 

Muhammadsobir Fayzov (pictured) was forced to attend court in a wheelchair

One soldier can be seen repeatedly punching him in the face as he screams at him.

The soldier is heard saying: 'He's a tramp! Where is your weapon? Your f****** weapon! What have you done with your weapon? I will search you now! Stand! Hit him again. Where are the rest?'

The detainee says that he doesn't have any weapons on him.  

Another soldier walks over and kicks him, as Rachabalizoda screams, before a third batters him with the butt of his gun. 

One soldier tells him: 'Stand or I'll set the dog on you.'

As a Russian soldier begins picking the terror suspect up, another punches him in the head and Rachabalizoda cries out in agony and falls back to the floor. 

A soldier tells him: 'Come on you scum b****. I will cut you up.'

Footage obtained by MailOnline that it is not publishing due to its graphic nature shows a soldier slicing off a part of Rachabalizoda's right ear and forcing him to eat it before he spits it back out. 

Rachabalizoda can be seen lying on his back in a foetal position after two armed men catch up to him as several dogs surround him as well

Several features from both videos match up, including facial features of the terror suspect, the clothes he is wearing and the bald-spot on the back of his head. 

Rachabalizoda was yesterday seen in court with a swollen face and a massive bandage over his right ear. 

He wasn't the only terror suspect involved in the deadly massacre on Friday who was allegedly tortured at the hands of Russian authorities, after an image was shared to pro-Russian Telegram channels showing Shamsuddin Fariddun foaming at the mouth as he lies on a gym floor with his trousers pulled down and wires attached to his groin area. 

At the other end they are attached to a military radio powered by an 80-volt battery.

A Telegram channel linked to Wagner paramilitary force said the picture of Fariddun shows how 'an ordinary interrogation takes place using a military field telephone TA-57, in common parlance 'Tapik'.

'By turning the coil…discharges are released through the wires... up to 80 volts, which in turn are connected to the prisoner by the fingers, ears or genitals…

'For best effect, the captured militant should be poured with water.'

It appears that the barbaric treatment of these suspects is being deliberately leaked to the media, as all of the images were released via Telegram channels sympathetic to the security services. 

The leaks come as Vladimir Putin has scrambled to save face by casting fresh doubt on ISIS claiming responsibility for the Moscow concert massacre that killed nearly 140 people, the deadliest attack on the nation's soil in years. 

ISIS twice claimed responsibility for the attack over the weekend, first posting a selfie taken by the four men, all of whom are Russian citizens, in front of an ISIS flag before posting a 90-second selfie video of the devastating attack from the terrorists' perspective. 

But Russian authorities again tried to discredit the direct claims made by the terror group, instead appearing to blame the attack on the West, after it emerged that the US tried to warn Russia about the massacre weeks before it happened. 

In a piece published in Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called ISIS' claims of responsibility into question. 

'Attention - a question to the White House: Are you sure it's ISIS? Might you think again about that', she wrote. 

Shamsuddin Fariddun was allegedly seen staking out Crocus City Hall on March 7 when he was pictured at the venue. The image (above) is purportedly seen on a picture taken at the venue by a photographer who was working at Crocus

Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova (pictured) called ISIS' claims of responsibility into question 

Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall, sits in the defendant cage with a severed ear 

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow

Fariddun is one of four suspected terrorists being interrogated by the Russian Investigative Committee about the Moscow attack

New footage of the slaughter emerged today showing people running and cowering behind tables as the gunman opened fire

Zakharova said the United States was spreading a version of the 'bogeyman' of Islamic State to cover its 'wards' in Kyiv and reminded readers that Washington supported the 'mujahideen' fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s.  

President Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine.

Putin said some people on 'the Ukrainian side' had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame for the concert hall attack by referring to Ukraine.

Zakharova's article came as footage of Russian forces torturing the men they arrested over the Moscow terror attack emerged, with one man given electric shocks to his genitals and a second forced to eat his own ear.

One image shows a suspect named as Shamsuddin Fariddun foaming at the mouth as he lies on a gym floor with his trousers pulled down and wires attached to his groin area. At the other end they are attached to a military radio powered by an 80-volt battery.

Separate video sees another man, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, having his ear severed and then spitting it out as he is forced to eat it.

The terrorist attack during a concert in Moscow's Crocus City Hall left more than 140 dead and over a hundred wounded

All four appeared in court in the Russian capital tonight and were paraded showing cuts and bruises

The four suspected terrorists entered the concert hall at around 8pm 

The two suspects are among four men detained in western Russia after Friday's terror attack on a packed Moscow concert hall that left at least 140 people dead.

All four appeared in court in the Russian capital and were paraded showing cuts and bruises as the authorities attempt to deliver a message to the shocked nation.

New footage filed inside the Crocus City Hall venue in Krasnogorsk also emerged, showing people running and cowering behind tables as the gunmen open fire in the main lobby of the building. People can be heard screaming as continuous bullets break through glass doors and mow down victims in what was the deadliest attack on Russia in years.

The four suspected terrorists, who have been photographed and named in the Russian media, were seen arriving in an unmarked white van before they entered the concert hall at around 8pm.

Photographs show suspect Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizod with a bandage strapped to his severed ear as he sits behind a glass wall at the Basmanny district court in Moscow. Any confessions made after such forms of torture can not be treated as reliable. 

A visibly injured man man sits behind a glass wall at the Basmanny district court in Moscow

Muhammadsobir Fayzov, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue

Muhammadsobir Fayzov sits in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow

Videos previously emerged on social media of the suspects being arrested - with one shaking on his knees and apparently confessing to carrying out the attack.

It appears that the barbaric treatment of these suspects is being deliberately leaked to the media, as the pictures were released to Telegram channels sympathetic to the security services. 

A telegram channel linked to Wagner paramilitary force said the picture of Fariddun shows how 'an ordinary interrogation takes place using a military field telephone TA-57, in common parlance 'Tapik'.

'By turning the coil…discharges are released through the wires... up to 80 volts, which in turn are connected to the prisoner by the fingers, ears or genitals…

'For best effect, the captured militant should be poured with water.'

The photo follows an incident when one of the suspect's ears was cut off on camera with a knife when he was detained in Bryansk region on Sunday. 

A video shows a Russian agent trying to force the suspect to eat the ear, which he spits out. 

In another video, the same suspect has his head bandaged and his face is covered in blood.  

The favoured method of disposing of 'traitors' by Wagner - headed by former Putin crony Yevgeny Prigozhin - was with a sledgehammer to the head, videos of which were also released.

Human rights group gulagu.net - which highlights widespread torture in Putin's jails - said: 'For more than 10 years, we have been consistently exposing torture and its systemic nature in Russia.

Fariddun was allegedly seen staking out Crocus City Hall on March 7 when he was pictured at the venue

The attack - which happened in Krasnogorsk, on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday night - is the deadliest attack on Russia in years

Video footage shows law enforcement officers escorting a man suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall

Fariddun was seen on his knees after being detained in Bryansk region on Saturday

It appears that the barbaric treatment of suspects of heinous crimes is being deliberately leaked by the Russian authorities 

A suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday, is escorted by police officers in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia

A man sits in the defendant cage as he waits for his pre-trial detention hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow

'It is obvious that sanctions for these tortures, as well as for the torture of Ukrainian prisoners, are given from the very top…

'The same as with Prigozhin using a sledgehammer… an executor of the will of the murderer and dictator Vladimir Putin. If there is all the evidence and [it] has been collected, why should the FSB torture the Tajiks?

'So that they take the blame and voice a version [of the atrocity] convenient for Putin and the FSB?'

Fariddun was allegedly seen staking out Crocus City Hall on March 7 when he was pictured at the venue.

This coincided with a warning from the US and UK embassies in Moscow about the imminent threat of a strike on a crowded venue.

Fariddun was seen on his knees after being detained in Bryansk region on Saturday.

Exiled journalist Dmirty Kolezev - editor of Republic media - said: 'The Russian security forces are leaking photos showing that detained terrorist attack suspects are being tortured with electric shocks by tying wires to their genitals.

'I have no doubt that after this there will be admissions that the order to kill people in Crocus was given to them personally by Zelensky.

'Torture is, unfortunately, commonplace. What is unusual here is that the security forces used to bashfully hide this. But now they are proud of it and, apparently, they themselves release photographs of torture to friendly Telegram channels.'

This the moment the suspected Moscow massacre terrorists are frogmarched blindfolded into a building for interrogation over the concert hall shooting

The suspected killers are held tightly by security guards as they are taken out of vans and brought to the Russian Investigative Committee for questioning

Photographs and the names of four suspects have also been released by the Russian media

Suspects of Moscow's massacre are taken to Investigation Committee HQ in Russia 

The suspects are blindfolded and handcuffed as they are taken into the building 

Separate videos of the men being arrested very previously shared on social media 

Separate footage shows the arsenal left behind by the gunmen who staged the bloodbath at the Crocus City Hall that left at least 137 people dead

Officers said they found four sets of combat ammunition, more than 500 rounds of ammunition and 28 magazines at the scene of the massacre

Vladimir Putin declared March 24 a day of nationwide mourning, as he was recorded lighting a candle before a crucifix and crossing himself three times in a church located in the territory of the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo. 

Britain accused Putin of using a 'smokescreen of propaganda to defend an utterly evil invasion' after he suggested Ukraine was behind the Moscow terrorist attack. 

Russian authorities said at least three children were among the 137 dead, with the numbers expected to rise as others were gravely injured.

Putin was silent for a whole day before he made a statement saying the gunmen were apprehended 'travelling towards Ukraine where, according to preliminary information, they had a window to cross the border'. Yesterday he lit a candle in a church at his residence of Novo-Ogaryovo in memory of all the victims.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told Sky News: 'I think we have very little confidence in anything the Russian government says. They are creating a smokescreen of propaganda to defend an utterly evil invasion of Ukraine.

'That doesn't mean that it's not a tragedy when innocent people lose their lives, when you have horrible bombings.

'But I take what the Russian government says with an enormous pinch of salt.'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin was more concerned about pinning the attack on Kyiv than reassuring his own citizens.

Russian state media showed footage of at least three suspects, who are blindfolded and handcuffed, being taken in for investigation over the attack.

Earlier, Moscow-aligned Telegram channels appeared to show their arrests, with one man apparently confessing to the killings.

US intelligence sources said a branch of IS known as Islamic State Khorasan Province is most likely to be responsible.

Separate footage has shows the arsenal left behind by the gunmen who staged the bloodbath at the Crocus City Hall that left at least 137 people dead. 

Officers said they found four sets of combat ammunition, more than 500 rounds of ammunition and 28 magazines at the scene of the massacre. 

Two Kalashnikov assault rifles were also recovered from the concert hall.

Shots were first fired at people waiting in the foyer before the killers made their way to the concert hall area. 

After shooting at concert-goers the suspected ISIS terrorists set the building on fire, causing the roof to collapse. 

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and it is thought the men were members of for ISIS-K, an offshoot of the terrorist organisation. 

The group released a sickening 90-second selfie after the attack that is too graphic for MailOnline to share.

The clip, described by the terror group as 'exclusive scenes... of the bloody attack on Christians yesterday in the city of Krasnogorsk in Moscow', begins with one terrorist holding a knife running into the main hall of Crocus City Hall.

The man filming the video twice says: 'Bring the machine gun. Kill them and have no mercy on them.'

The group released sickening a 90-second selfie video of the attack that is too graphic for MailOnline to share

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow

The burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk

Another man carrying what appears to be a yellow and black machine gun then runs into the hall and begins firing wildly in all directions.

The gun appears to match up with images released by Russian authorities of the aftermath of the attack.

The gunman filming the sick attack can be heard saying: 'The infidels will be defeated, God willing. God is great. The infidels will be defeated. We went out for the sake of God and to seek His religion.'

The four heavily armed men are then seen slowly walking away from the entrance to the main hall.

It has been alleged that one of the suspected killers staked out the Crocus City Hall venue more than two weeks ago.

This was almost exactly at the time the US and UK embassies warned of an impending risk of a strike in the Russian capital.

The revelation emerged as footage was revealed purporting to show dictator Vladimir Putin in his office as he was told of the atrocity.

Flowers and candles are placed at a makeshift memorial to the victims of the massacre

A woman is comforted in front of a makeshift memorial to the victims set up outside the Crocus City Hall

US officials say that the information was privately shared as recently as three days before the attack 

More than 140 people are reported to have died during the attack in Moscow 

Suspect Shamsuddin Fariddun, from Tajikistan, was caught on camera by a photographer at Crocus City Hall on March 7, it has been claimed. 

Nearly 140 people were killed and around 150 more were injured in the attack. 

One of the victims has been confirmed by the Russian Health Ministry as 42-year-old former beauty queen Ekaterina Novoselova.

Another victim was Natalia Zudina, 44, a graduate of the Ural State Economics University, who was originally from Yekaterinburg.

An eight-year-old boy has been listed as among those injured and is said to be in a critical condition in hospital.

Rescuers working inside the burned Crocus City Hall concert venue 

Footage obtained by AFP TV shows unidentified gunmen moving towards the doors of the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk

The group en route to Ukraine were reportedly apprehended by Chechen fighters loyal to close Putin ally and warlord Ramzan Kadyrov

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced March 24 as a day of national mourning in an address that was televised to the country, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Despite ISIS's claims of responsibility, Putin was quick to blame Ukraine for the horror attack. 

But the US was quick to rebuff these allegations. 'ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,' National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.