Muscovites Lay Flowers at French Embassy Over Charlie Hebdo Tragedy

MOSCOW, January 8 (Sputnik) – The residents of Moscow laid flowers outside the French Embassy on Thursday, to pay their respects to the victims of Wednesday's terror attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

"We want to show that in Russia there are people who care about what happened in Paris, and who condemn these killings," one of those who came to show their respects told Rusnovosti.

Those wishing to pay their respects to the victims of Tuesday's shooting braved freezing temperatures to place flowers and candles at the entrance to the Embassy, with some leaving messages of condolence. The Embassy's flag was flying at half-mast on Wednesday in the wake of the terror attack, in which 12 people died after masked intruders entered the offices of the magazine and opened fire during its daily editorial meeting on Wednesday morning.

"The French Embassy expresses its deepest gratitude to Russians, both ordinary people and those in official positions, who came to the Embassy building to express their solidarity with the French nation," Madeleine Kuran, the Embassy's press representative, told RIA Novosti. "We are also grateful to people leaving messages of condolence on the pages of the Embassy's social networking sites."

Kuran added that French President Francois Hollande announced a minute's silence at 12.00 French time (14:00 MKT) for the victims of the terror attack, to take place in all French government institutions including French Embassies around the world as part of a national day of mourning to honor those who died in the attacks. The President also said that the French flag would fly at half-mast for three days after the killings.