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The Moscow theater hostage crisis (also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege) was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater by
Chechen terrorists on 23 October 2002, which involved 850 hostages and ended with Russian security services killing or causing the death of at least 170 people. The attackers, led by
Movsar Barayev
Movsar Buharovich Barayev (Suleimanov) (russian: Мовсар Бухарович Бараев; October 26, 1979 – October 26, 2002), earlier known as Suleimanov, was a Chechen Islamist militia leader during the Second Chechen War, who le ...
, claimed allegiance to the
Islamist separatist movement in Chechnya.
They demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from
Chechnya and an end to the
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 ...
.
Due to the layout of the theater, special forces would have had to fight through of corridor and advance up a well-defended staircase before they could reach the hall in which the hostages were held. The attackers had numerous explosives, with the most powerful in the center of the
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
.
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .)
Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the S ...
operators from
Federal Security Service (FSB)
Alpha and
Vympel
Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is an elite Russia ...
, supported by a
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...
(MVD)
SOBR unit, pumped a
chemical agent into the building's
ventilation
Ventilation may refer to:
* Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation
** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing
*** Ventilator, a m ...
system and began the rescue operation.
All 40 of the insurgents were shot dead when unconscious,
and up to 130 hostages died during the siege, including 9 foreigners, due to the toxic substance pumped into the theater.
The identity of the gas was not disclosed at the time, although it was believed by some to have been a
fentanyl
Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocain ...
derivative, such as
carfentanil
Carfentanil or carfentanyl, sold under the brand name Wildnil, is a very potent opioid analgesic which is used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. It is typically administered in this context ...
.
A study published in 2012 concluded that it had been a mixture of carfentanil and
remifentanyl
Remifentanil is a potent, short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic medication, drug. It is given to patients during surgery to relieve pain and as an adjunct to an anaesthetic. Remifentanil is used for sedation as well as combined with other me ...
. The same study pointed out that in a 2011 case at the European Court of Human Rights, the Russian government stated that the aerosol used was a mixture of a fentanyl derivative and a chemical compound with a narcotic action.
Initial siege
The hostages were seized on 23 October at the House of Culture of State Ball-Bearing Plant Number 1 in the Dubrovka area of Moscow about four kilometers south-east of the
Moscow Kremlin.
During Act II of a sold-out performance of ''
Nord-Ost
''Nord-Ost'' (russian: Норд-Ост, means "North-East" in German) is a Russian musical theatre production that was composed by Aleksei Ivaschenko and Georgii Vasilyev, based on the novel ''The Two Captains'' by Veniamin Kaverin. It is a fictio ...
'' a little after 9:00 PM, 40–50 heavily armed and masked men and women drove in a bus to the theater and entered the main hall firing
assault rifles in the air.
The black-and-camouflage-clad
Chechens
The Chechens (; ce, Нохчий, , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. "Eu ...
took approximately 850–900 people hostage, including members of the audience and performers, among them an
MVD
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...
general. The reaction of spectators inside the theater to the news that the theater was under terrorist attack was not uniform: some people remained calm, some reacted hysterically, and others fainted. Some performers who had been resting backstage escaped through an open window and called the police; in all, some 90 people managed to flee the building or hide.
The militant leader told the hostages that the attackers (who identified themselves as a
suicide squad
The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
from "the 29th Division"
) had no grudge against foreign nationals (about 75 in number from 14 countries, including
Australia,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
) and promised to release anyone who showed a foreign
passport.
Demands
The gunmen were led by
Movsar Barayev
Movsar Buharovich Barayev (Suleimanov) (russian: Мовсар Бухарович Бараев; October 26, 1979 – October 26, 2002), earlier known as Suleimanov, was a Chechen Islamist militia leader during the Second Chechen War, who le ...
, nephew of slain Chechen rebel
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
commander
Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev ( ce, Арби Алаутдинович Бараев; 27 May 1974 – 22 June 2001) was a Chechen warlord and terrorist, who in 1996 became the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPI ...
, and threatened to kill the hostages unless Russian forces were immediately and unconditionally withdrawn from Chechnya. They said the
deadline
Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to:
* Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain
* ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
was one week, after which they would start killing the hostages.
A
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
d statement was acquired by the media in which the gunmen declared their willingness to die for their cause. The statement contained the following text:
According to the Kremlin's aide
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, "When they were told that the withdrawal of troops was unrealistic within the short period, that it was a very long process, the terrorists put forward the demand to withdraw Russian troops from anywhere in the Republic of Chechnya without specifying which area it was." The hostage-takers demanded termination of the use of
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
and
air force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
s in Chechnya starting the next day (Russian forces ceased using heavy weapons until 28 September), a halt to the notorious ''
zachistka'' ("mopping-up") operations, and that
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
should publicly declare that he was striving to stop the war in Chechnya. By the time of the hostage-taking, the conflict in the embattled republic was killing an average of three federal troops daily.
Cell phone conversations between the hostages trapped in the building and their family members revealed that the hostage-takers had
grenades
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...
,
mines and
improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...
s strapped to their bodies, and had deployed more explosives throughout the theater. The militants used Arabic names among themselves, and the female terrorists wore Arab-style ''
niqab'' clothes which are highly unusual in the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
region.
Mufti Akhmad-Khadzhi Shamayev, official leader of Chechnya's Muslims, said he had no information about who the attackers were and condemned attacks on civilians. The pro-Moscow Islamic leader of Chechnya also condemned the attack.
All hostages were kept in the
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
and the
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
pit was used as a
lavatory
Lavatory, Lav, or Lavvy may refer to:
*Toilet, the plumbing fixture
*Toilet (room), containing a toilet
*Public toilet
*Aircraft lavatory, the public toilet on an aircraft
*Latrine, a rudimentary toilet
*A lavatorium, the washing facility in a mon ...
.
The situation in the hall was nervous and it frequently changed depending on the mood of the hostage-takers, who were following reports in the
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit informati ...
. Any kind of
misinformation
Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ...
caused hopelessness among the hostages and new aggression among their captors, who would threaten to shoot hostages and blow up the building, but no major incidents took place during the siege. The gunmen let members of the audience make phone calls.
One hostage used her mobile phone to plead with authorities not to storm the auditorium,
as truckloads of police and soldiers with
armored vehicle
Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured ...
s surrounded the building.
Hostage-taking
Day one23 October
The attackers released 150 to 200 people, including children,
pregnant women,
Muslims, some foreign-born theater-goers and people requiring medical treatment in the early hours after they invaded. Two women managed to escape (one of them was injured while escaping).
The terrorists said they were ready to kill ten hostages for any of their number killed if the security forces intervened.
Olga Romanova
At 1:30 AM, Olga Romanova, a 26-year-old civilian acting on her own, entered the theater, crossing the police cordon by herself.
She entered the theater and began urging the hostages to stand up to their captors. There was considerable confusion in the auditorium. The terrorists believed she was a
Federal Security Service (FSB) agent and she was shot and killed seconds later. Romanova's body was later removed from the building by a Russian medical team, incorrectly reported by the Moscow police as the body of the first hostage who was killed while trying to escape.
Romanova was described as "strong-willed", and lived near the theater.
It is unknown how she crossed the police lines undetected.
Day two24 October
The Russian government offered the hostage-takers the opportunity to leave for any country other than Russia or Chechnya if they released all hostages unharmed.
The hostages made an appeal, possibly under orders or duress, for Putin to cease hostilities in Chechnya and asked him to refrain from assaulting the building. Because of the crisis, Putin canceled an overseas trip that would have included meetings with
then-U.S. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and other world leaders.
The hostage-takers demanded to talk with
Joseph Kobzon
Iosif (Joseph) Davydovich Kobzon (russian: link=no, Ио́сиф Давы́дович Кобзо́н; 11 September 1937 – 30 August 2018) was a Russian singer, known for his crooner style.
Early life
Kobzon was born to Jewish parents in th ...
, a member of parliament and singer, and with International Red Cross representatives. Kobzon (accompanied by three people, including a man waving some white fabric like a flag), entered the building about 1:20 PM. Shortly thereafter, a man in his sixties, appearing feeble and distraught, left the theater. The Interfax news agency identified him as a British citizen, but did not provide details. A woman and three children, believed to be Russians, were let out a few minutes later.
Other well-known public and political figures such as
Aslambek Aslakhanov,
Irina Khakamada
Irina Mutsuovna Khakamada ( rus, Ири́на Муцу́овна Хакама́да, p=ɪˈrʲinə mʊˈtsuəvnə xəkɐˈmadə; ja, 袴田イリーナ; born April 13, 1955, in Moscow) is a Russian economist, political activist, journalist, pu ...
,
Ruslan Khasbulatov
Ruslan Imranovich Khasbulatov (russian: link=no, Русла́н Имранович Хасбула́тов, ce, Хасбола́ти Имра́ни кIант Руслан) (born November 22, 1942) is a Russian economist and politician and the ...
,
Boris Nemtsov and
Grigory Yavlinsky
Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky ( Russian: Григо́рий Алексе́евич Явли́нский; born 10 April 1952) is a Russian economist and politician. He authored the 500 Days Program, a plan for the transition of the Soviet regim ...
took part in negotiations with the hostage-takers. Ex-President of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Mikhail Gorbachev also announced his willingness to act as an intermediary in the course of negotiations. Militants also demanded that representatives of the
International Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
and ''
Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...
'' (Doctors Without Borders) come to the theater to lead negotiations. FSB
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Konstantin Vasilyev attempted to enter the patio of the theater, but was shot at while approaching the building and forced to retreat.
According to the FSB, thirty nine hostages were set free by the terrorists on 24 October 2002, but they repeated via one of the hostages an earlier threat to start shooting their captives if Russia failed to take their demands seriously.
Negotiations on the release of non-Russian nationals were conducted by various
embassies
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
and the Chechens promised to release all foreign hostages. The kidnappers claimed they were ready to release 50 Russian hostages if
Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov ce, Къадири Ӏабдулхьамидан кӀант Ахьмад-Хьажи, Q̇adiri Jabdulẋamidan khant Aẋmad-Ẋaƶi (23 August 1951 – 9 May 2004) was a Russian politician and revolutionar ...
, head of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration, would come to the theater, but Kadyrov did not respond, and the release did not take place.
A hot water pipe burst overnight and was flooding the ground floor. The hostage-takers called the flooding a "provocation" and an FSB spokesman said no agreement had been reached on having the pipe repaired.
It later turned out that the
sewer system was used by the Russian special forces for listening purposes.
Day three25 October
During the third day, the following people took part in negotiations with the militants: journalists
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...
,
Sergei Govorukhin and
Mark Franchetti Mark Franchetti is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He worked for 23 years as a correspondent for the Sunday Times of London, much of it as the paper's Moscow correspondent. Fluent in five languages, Franchetti was awarded the British Press ...
as well as public figures
Yevgeny Primakov
Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Foreign Minister, Speaker of the Supreme ...
,
Ruslan Aushev
Ruslan Sultanovich Aushev (russian: Русла́н Султа́нович А́ушев; inh, Руслан Султана Овшанаькъан; born 29 October 1954) is a former politician. He was the president of Ingushetia from March 1993 t ...
and again, Aslambek Aslakhanov. The terrorists demanded negotiations with an official representative of Vladimir Putin. Relatives of the hostages staged anti-war demonstrations outside the theater and in central Moscow.
The hostage-takers agreed to release seventy-five foreign citizens in the presence of diplomatic representatives of their states. 15 Russian citizens were released, including eight children (aged 7 to 13). After a meeting with Putin, the FSB head
Nikolai Patrushev
Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev (russian: Никола́й Плато́нович Па́трушев; born 11 July 1951) is a Russian politician, security officer and intelligence officer who has served as the secretary of the Security Council of ...
offered to spare the lives of the Chechens if they released the remaining hostages unharmed.
A group of Russian doctors including Dr.
Leonid Roshal
Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal (born April 27, 1933 in Livny) is a noted pediatrician from Moscow, Russia, expert for the World Health Organization, and chairman of International Charity Fund to Help Children in Disasters and Wars.
Biography
Roshal ...
, head of the Medical Center for Catastrophes, entered the theater to bring medicine for the hostages and said the terrorists were not beating or threatening their captives. He said most of the hostages were calm and that only "two or three" of the hostages were hysterical. Some hot food, warm clothes, and medicine had also been taken in by the Red Cross.
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
channel journalists recorded an interview with Movsar Barayev, in which he sent a message to the Russian government:
We have nothing to lose. We have already covered 2,000 kilometers by coming here. There is no way back... We have come to die. Our motto is freedom and paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...
. We already have freedom as we've come to Moscow. Now we want to be in paradise.
He also said the group had come to Moscow not to kill the hostages or to fight with Russia's elite troops, as they had had enough fighting in Chechnya over the years: "We came here with a specific aimto put an end to the war and that is it."
At 9:55 PM, four hostages (citizens of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
) were released, bringing the total number of hostages that were set free on this day to 19.
Gennady Vlakh
After dusk, a man identified as Gennady Vlakh ran across the square and gained entry to the theater. He said that his son was among the hostages, but his son did not seem to be present and the man was led away and shot by the Chechens.
There is considerable confusion surrounding this incident, and Vlakh's body was cremated before it was identified.
Denis Gribkov
Around midnight, a gunfire incident took place as Denis Gribkov, a 30-year-old male hostage, ran over the backs of theater seats toward the female insurgents who were sitting next to a large improvised explosive device.
A male Chechen shot at him and missed, but stray bullets hit and severely wounded Tamara Starkova and fatally wounded Pavel Zakharov, who were evacuated from the building soon after. Gribkov was removed from the auditorium and later found dead from gunshot wounds.
Day fourMorning of 26 October
![Vladimir Putin with victims of Nord-Ost terrorism](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Vladimir_Putin_with_victims_of_Nord-Ost_terrorism.jpg)
During the night,
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev ( ce, Заки Хьалид кlант Ахьмад, Zaki Halid-khant Ahmad; russian: Ахмед Халидович Закаев, Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev; born 26 April 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Pri ...
, a Chechen envoy and associate of the separatist President
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov (russian: Асла́н (Хали́д) Али́евич Масха́дов; ce, Масхадан Али-воӀ Аслан (Халид), Masxadan Ali-voj Aslan (Xalid); 21 September 1951 – 8 March 2005) was ...
, appealed to the extremists and asked them to "refrain from rash steps". The Chechens told the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
that a special representative of President Putin planned to come to the theater for talks the next day. Two members of the
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .)
Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the S ...
Alpha Group moving around in the
no-man's land were seriously wounded by a grenade fired from the building by the terrorists, which was blamed by the Moscow police chief
Vladimir Pronin on the media
news leak
A news leak is the unsanctioned release of confidential information to news media. It can also be the premature publication of information by a news outlet, of information that it has agreed not to release before a specified time, in violation of ...
.
According to an officer in the Russian special forces cited by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the leak was controlled: "We leaked the information that the storming would take place at three in the morning. The
Chechen fighters were on their guard. They began shooting, but there was no raid. Then there was the natural reactiona relaxation. And at 5 a.m. we stormed the place."
Special forces raid
Early Saturday morning, 26 October, forces from Russia's
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .)
Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the S ...
(Special Forces, literally "special purpose") from the FSB (
Alpha Group and
Vympel
Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is an elite Russia ...
), with the assistance of the
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...
(MVD)
SOBR unit, surrounded and stormed the theater; all were heavily armed and masked. Deputy
Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev Vladimir Vasiliev may refer to:
* Vladimir Vasiliev (dancer) (born 1940), dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet
* Vladimir Vasilyev (rower) (born 1948), Soviet Olympic rower
* Vladimir Vasilyev (politician) (born 1949), Russian politician
* Vladimir Vas ...
stated that the raid was prompted by a panic among the captives due to the execution of two female hostages. The raid was planned shortly after the hostages were initially seized and the shooting cited as a proximate cause had occurred about three hours before the operation began.
Chemical attack
Early in the morning before dawn, at around 5:00a.m. Moscow time, the
searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
s that had been illuminating the main entrance to the theater went out.
Inside, although many hostages at first took the gas (
aerosol) to be smoke from a fire,
it soon became apparent to gunmen and hostages alike that a mysterious gas had been pumped into the building. Different reports said it came either through the specially created hole in the wall, that it was pumped through the theater's ventilation system, or that it emerged from beneath the stage. The security services pumped an
aerosol anaesthetic
An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia — in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
, later stated by Russian Health Minister Yuri Shevchenko to be based on
fentanyl
Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocain ...
, into the theater through the
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
system. The discovery caused panic in the auditorium. Hostage Anna Andrianova, a correspondent for ''
Moskovskaya Pravda'', called
Echo of Moscow
Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local r ...
radio studio and told on-air in a
live broadcast A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcast without a significant delay.
The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting.
Ot ...
interview that the government forces had begun an operation by pumping gas into the hall:
Assault
The Chechens, some of whom were equipped with
gas masks, responded by firing blindly at the Russian positions outside. After thirty minutes, when the gas had taken effect, a physical assault on the building commenced. The combined forces entered through numerous building openings, including the roof, the basement, and finally the front door.
When the shooting began, the terrorists told their hostages to lean forward in the theater seats and cover their heads behind the seats.
Hostages reported that some people in the audience fell asleep, and some of the gunmen put on
respirator
A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including fumes, vapours, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories of respi ...
s. As the terrorists and hostages alike began to fall unconscious, several of the female terrorists made a dash for the balcony but passed out before they reached the stairs. They were later found shot dead. Two of the Spetsnaz
Alpha Group were also overcome by the gas.
After nearly one and a half hours of sporadic gun battles, the Russian special forces blew open the doors to the main hall and poured into the auditorium. In a fierce firefight, the federals killed most of the hostage-takers, both those still awake and those who had succumbed to the gas.
According to the Russian government, fighting between the troops and the still-conscious Chechen fighters continued in other parts of the building for another 30 minutes to one hour. Initial reports stated that three terrorists were captured alive (the BBC reported that a "handful of surviving fighters were led away in
handcuffs"
) and two of them managed to escape. Later, the government claimed that all hostage-takers had been killed in the storming.
Alpha team troops said that "this is our first successful operation
nyears".
''
Moskovskij Komsomolets
''Moskovskij Komsomolets'' (russian: Московский комсомолец, lit=Moscow Komsomolets) is a Moscow-based daily newspaper with a circulation approaching one million, covering general news. Founded in 1919, it is famed for its to ...
'' cited a Russian special forces operative saying that "if it were a usual storming, we'd have had 150 casualties among our men, added to the hostages."
Evacuation
At 7:00 a.m., rescuers began carrying the bodies of hostages out of the building. Bodies were laid in rows in the
foyer
A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...
and on the pavement at the main entrance to the TC, unprotected from falling rain and snow. None of the bodies witnessed by ''The Guardian'' correspondent
Nick Paton Walsh had bullet wounds or showed signs of bleeding, but "their faces were waxy, white and drawn, their eyes open and blank."
Shortly, the entire space was filled with bodies of the dead and those unconscious from the gas but still alive.
Ambulance
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
s were standing by and ordinary city buses were brought in. Medical workers were expecting to treat victims of explosions and gunfire but not a secret chemical agent. If the drug used was indeed a fentanyl derivative or other
μ-opioid receptor agonist, an opioid
receptor antagonist drug like
naloxone
Naloxone, sold under the brand names Narcan (4 mg) and Kloxxado (8 mg) among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. Effects begin withi ...
would have counteracted the chemical agent's effects, but would have had to be administered by rescue workers immediately upon arriving. Some reports said the drug was used to save some hostages.
The bodies of dead hostages were put in two buses which were parked at the TC. Initial reports said nothing about casualties among the hostages. The crisis HQ representatives went to the college hall, where relatives of the hostages had been waiting, and told them that allegedly there were no fatalities among the hostages. The first official report of fatalities among the hostages came at about 9:00 a.m. Despite the death of five children which had been already reported by medical personnel, the official statement claimed there were no children among the dead.
At 1:00 p.m., Vasilyev announced at a press conference a "definitive" death toll of 67 hostages, who he said were killed by Chechens,
but again said no children nor foreigners were among those killed. Armed guards were posted at the hospitals where victims were taken and doctors were ordered not to release any of the theater
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
s in case militants had concealed themselves among the hostages.
The hostages' family members panicked as the government refused to release any information about which hospitals their loved ones had been taken to, or even whether their relatives were among the dead.
The official number of the dead rose to 90, including 25 children, while it was still claimed that the final attack was provoked by the terrorists executing their captives.
Later the same day, the official death toll among hostages had risen to at least 118 and the officials had not specified exactly what killed them.
By 28 October, of the 646 former hostages who remained hospitalized, 150 were still in
intensive care
Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...
and 45 were in critical condition.
Seventy-three hostages (including six minors) were rendered no medical aid. There were several Chechens among the hostages and it may be that some of them were not treated because of their Chechen names.
[Anna Politkovskaya. ''Putin's Russia''. The Harvill Press. 2004.] Money and other valuables belonging to the victims vanished; official reports stated that the valuables were stolen by an FSB officer who was later killed in a car crash.
The Russian authorities initially maintained that none of the deaths among the hostages occurred through poisoning. They spoke of health problems that were exacerbated by the three-day ordeal with very little food or water, or indeed, medical attention.
Casualties
The number of estimated casualties varies widely because many hostages remained unaccounted for and were not included in the official list (see below).
Some estimates have put the civilian death toll at more than 200
with 204 names on one list, or even 300, including people who died during the year after the siege from complications from the poison gas.
Some former hostages and relatives of the victims claim that the death toll from the chemical agent is being kept secret.
According to official numbers, 40 terrorists and about 130 hostages died during the raid or in the following days.
Doctor Andrei Seltsovsky, Moscow's health committee chairman, announced that all but one of the hostages killed in the raid had died from the effects of the unknown gas rather than from gunshot wounds.
The cause of death listed for all hostages was declared to be "terrorism," claiming they died from
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
s or other physical ailments.
Among the fatalities, 17 were ''Nord-Ost'' cast members, including two child actors. Of the foreign nationals, three were from Ukraine, and the others were citizens of Austria, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and the United States.
About 700 surviving hostages were poisoned by the gas, and some of them received injuries leading to
disabilities of the second and third class (by the Russian/ex-Soviet disability classification system; indicate medium- and maximum-severity debilitation). Several Russian special forces operatives were also poisoned by the gas during the operation. According to court testimony from Prof. A. Vorobiev, Director of the Russian Academic Bacteriology Center, most, if not all, of the deaths were caused by suffocation when hostages collapsed on chairs with heads falling back or were transported and left lying on their backs by rescue workers; in such a position, tongue
prolapse
In medicine, prolapse is a condition in which organs fall down or slip out of place. It is used for organs protruding through the vagina, rectum, or for the misalignment of the valves of the heart. A spinal disc herniation is also sometimes ca ...
causes blockage of breathing.
Responsibility
The Chechen radical militant group The
Special Purpose Islamic Regiment
The Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (russian: Исламский полк особого назначения; abbreviated SPIR), also known as the al-Jihad-Fi-Sabililah Special Islamic Regiment, was a Chechen organization loosely formed by Che ...
(SPIR) conducted the operation. The group was led by
Movsar Barayev
Movsar Buharovich Barayev (Suleimanov) (russian: Мовсар Бухарович Бараев; October 26, 1979 – October 26, 2002), earlier known as Suleimanov, was a Chechen Islamist militia leader during the Second Chechen War, who le ...
.
Military commander
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev ( ce, Салман ВоӀ Шамиль ; russian: Шамиль Салманович Басаев; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his kunya "Abu Idris", was a senior military commander in the Cheche ...
posted a statement on his website claiming ultimate responsibility for the incident, resigning all official positions within the Chechen government and promising new attacks. He also apologized to Chechnya's elected president and separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov for not informing him of the planned raid and asked him for forgiveness.
Basayev defended the hostage-taking for giving "all Russians a first-hand insight into all the charms of the war unleashed by Russia and take it back to where it originated from" and said that his "main goal will be destroying the enemy and exacting maximum damage" and "the next time, those who come won't make any demands, won't take hostages."
A series of suicide bombings aimed at civilian targets in Russia followed in 2003 and 2004.
The Russian government claimed that
wiretap
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
ped phone conversations prove that Maskhadov knew of the plans in advance, which he denied.
Aslan Maskhadov and his representatives in the West condemned the attack which they said had nothing to do with official policy. Maskhadov said he felt responsible for those "who resorted to self-sacrifice in despair", but also said the "barbaric and inhumane policies" of the Russian leadership were ultimately to blame and criticized the storming of the theater. He offered to start unconditional peace talks with the Russian government to find a political solution to the conflict in Chechnya.
The siege was seen as a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...
disaster for Maskhadov, and his more radical Islamic field commanders correspondingly benefited. Some commentators suggested that
Movladi Udugov was in charge from behind the scenes. Russian military expert
Pavel Felgenhauer
Pavel Eugenievich Felgenhauer (; born 6 December 1951) is a Russian military analyst known for his publications about Russia's political and military leadership.
Biography
Felgenhauer was born in 1951 in Moscow, the Soviet Union and graduated ...
suggested that the aim of the extremist leaders seemed to have been to provoke the Russian government forces "to kill ethnic Russians in Moscow on a large scale", which happened.
According to the report by Russian investigators,
Zura Barayeva, the widow of Arbi Barayev, led the female members of the group, while a man known as Yasir, identified by his documents as Idris Alkhazurov, was said to be the group's "ideologist" believed to be trained in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. Russian officials said Chechen militants received financing from groups based in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and that they intercepted telephone calls from the captors to unidentified embassies in Moscow, as well as to Turkey and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
.
Aftermath
After the raid, Moscow Mayor
Yuri Luzhkov Yuri may refer to:
People and fictional characters
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
* Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Ja ...
said that "the operation was carried out brilliantly by special forces;" he claimed he had wanted a negotiated end to the crisis, but the final attack was made necessary by the reported killing of hostages. The Russian presidential special envoy for
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
in Chechnya,
Abdul-Khakim Sultygov, said the bloody outcome was "a good lesson to the terrorists and their accomplices."
Deputy Interior Minister Vasilyev launched a Moscow-wide operation to catch anyone who might have helped the militants, while his superior, Interior Minister
Boris Gryzlov
Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov (also spelled Grizlov; russian: Борис Вячеславович Грызлов, ; born December 15, 1950), is a Russian politician. He was Interior Minister from 2001 to 2003 and Speaker of the State Duma (the lo ...
, urged people to be vigilant and to report anyone acting suspiciously to police. On 29 October, Vasilyev said he had the authority to state only that special chemical agents had been used and that some 30 suspected militants and their collaborators, including several civil servants and security officers, had been arrested around the theater and in other parts of the city in what Gryzlov called an "unprecedented operation" to identify what he described as a vast terrorist network in Moscow and the surrounding region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the scale and violence of the assault in a televised address later on the morning of 26 October, stating that the government had "achieved the near impossible, saving hundreds... of people" and that the rescue "proved it is impossible to bring Russia to its knees".
Putin thanked the special forces as well as the Russian citizens for their "bravery" and the
international community for the support given against the "common enemy". He also asked forgiveness for not being able to save more of the hostages, and declared Monday a
national day of mourning
A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...
for those who died.
He vowed to continue fighting "
international terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
".
On 29 October, Putin released another televised statement, saying: "Russia will respond with measures that are adequate to the threat to the Russian Federation, striking all the places where the terrorists themselves, the organizers of these crimes and their ideological and financial inspirations are. I stress, wherever they may be located." It was commonly assumed Putin was threatening the former Soviet Republic of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Putin's comments came as British
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
phoned him to congratulate him on the ending of the siege.
President Putin was unhappy with the coverage of the hostage crisis by
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
, the last nationwide TV channel effectively independent of the government. In January 2003 the management of NTV was replaced, resulting in a profound effect on its editorial policy.
Long-term consequences
The attacks prompted Putin's government to take harsher measures against Chechen separatists. On 28 October, two days after the crisis, he announced that unspecified "measures adequate to the threat" would henceforth be taken in response to terrorist activity, with reports of 30 fighters killed near the Chechen capital
Grozny
Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia.
The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...
.
The
Russian Ministry of Defense
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...
cancelled plans to reduce the 80,000 troop presence in the tiny breakaway Chechen republic.
In early November,
Defense Minister
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...
Sergei Ivanov
Sergei Borisovich Ivanov ( rus, Сергей Борисович Иванов, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej bɐˈrʲisəvʲɪtɕ ɪvɐˈnof; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has served as the Special Representative of ...
announced Russian forces had launched large-scale operations against separatists throughout Chechnya. The actions of the military caused a new wave of
refugees, according to the pro-Moscow Chechen official and the hostage crisis negotiator Aslanbek Aslakhanov.
On 29 May 2008, the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
(ECHR) unanimously condemned Russia for enforced disappearances in five cases from Chechnya, including the disappearance of two young women in
Ulus-Kert (the prosecutor's office initially stated to media that Aminat Dugayeva and Kurbika Zinabdiyeva had been arrested on suspicion of involvement with the Moscow siege).
President Maskhadov's unconditional offer for peace talks with Russia was swiftly dismissed, and Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared such calls with the suggestion that Europe should conduct such talks with the former
al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden. Russia also accused former Chechen Republic leader
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev ( ce, Заки Хьалид кlант Ахьмад, Zaki Halid-khant Ahmad; russian: Ахмед Халидович Закаев, Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev; born 26 April 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Pri ...
of involvement in the attack. When he visited Denmark for a peace congress in October 2002 (the
World Chechen Congress event in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
), the Russians demanded his arrest and
extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
;
Zakayev was held for over a month, but was released after Danish authorities stated they were not convinced that sufficient evidence had been provided. The Kremlin also accused the Danish authorities of "solidarity with terrorists" by allowing the meeting of about 100 Chechens, Russian human rights activists and lawmakers from Russia and other European countries to gather and discuss ways to end the fighting.
In early November, the Russian
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
approved a broad array of
anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation are laws with the purpose of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations. Anti-terrorism legislation usually includes specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its ...
ranging from far-reaching restrictions on media coverage of terrorism-related incidents to secret burials for killed terrorists (one lawmaker went as far as to suggest wrapping terrorists' corpses in pigskin and another suggested "carting them around the city with their legs dangling"). The new media law severely restricted the media's reporting of anti-terrorist operations, banning publication or broadcast of "any statement that hinders an operation to break such a siege, or attempts to justify the aims of the hostage-takers".
These new policies prompted renewed fears in Russia that Putin was systematically taking control of all Russian media.
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Юшенко́в; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political par ...
, whose
Liberal Russia party voted against the change, was quoted by
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
as saying: "On a wave of emotion, we have in fact legitimised
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and practically banned
criticism of the authorities in
emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
situations."
Coverage of Chechnya had already been severely restricted, needing the cooperation of both the Russian military and the Moscow-backed Chechen administration (see
Russian government censorship of Chechnya coverage). A law by which corpses of people convicted or accused of terrorism would not be released to their families, but disposed of in secret was approved, applying to the bodies of the militants killed in the Moscow crisis, and later applying even to President Maskhadov, who was killed in 2005.
In 2003,
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
reported Chechens in Moscow were subjected to increased police
harassment after the hostage crisis.
Moscow's Chechens rose in numbers from about 20,000 in the Soviet period to an estimated 80,000 in 2002.
Many in the Russian press and in the international media warned that the death of so many hostages in the special forces' rescue operation would severely damage President Putin's popularity. This prediction reportedly turned out to be wrong. Shortly after the siege, the Russian president had record public approval ratings; in December 2002, 83% of Russians reportedly declared themselves satisfied with Putin's rule and his handling of the siege.
Investigation
The official investigation that the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office had been carrying out for three and a half years failed to provide positive information on the gas agent that killed hostages, possible antidote to that agent, the number of hostages released by the operation, the number of militants who had seized the theater (hostages claimed that they saw more than 50 militants, whereas only 40 hostage takers were in the building according to the official version), and the names of officials who had made the decision about the assault.
On 1 June 2007, news came that the official investigation had been suspended. The reason provided was that the "culprit had not been located".
The same month, Tatiana Karpova, co-chair of the Nord-Ost Organization of former hostages and families of the dead, demanded a new criminal investigation. She claimed the authorities failed to meet their obligations related to right to life. She stated her concern about the lack of medical care for the injured, and future medical problems for the survivors. In July 2007, relatives of those who died in the hostage-taking urged the Office of the
Prosecutor General of Russia
The Prosecutor General of Russia (also Attorney General of Russia, russian: Генеральный прокурор Российской Федерации, Generalʹnyy prokuror Rossiyskoy Federatsii) heads the system of official prosecution i ...
to investigate whether senior officials were responsible for the deaths.
Claims of FSB involvement
The Duma refused to consider a proposal by the
liberal democratic
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into di ...
Union of Rightist Forces party to form an investigative commission charged with probing the government's actions in the theater siege.
An independent investigation of the event was undertaken by Russian politicians
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Юшенко́в; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political par ...
,
Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov (also spelled Sergey Kovalev; russian: link=no, Сергей Адамович Ковалёв; 2 March 1930 – 9 August 2021) was a Russian human rights activist and politician. During the Soviet period he was a diss ...
, journalist
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...
,
Hoover Institute
The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
scholar
John B. Dunlop, and former FSB officers
Aleksander Litvinenko and
Mikhail Trepashkin
Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin (russian: Михаил Иванович Трепашкин; born 7 April 1957) is a Russian attorney and former Federal Security Service (FSB) colonel who was invited by MP Sergei Kovalev to assist in an independent ...
. According to their version, the FSB knew about the terrorist group's arrival in Moscow and directed them to the theater through their
agent provocateur
An agent provocateur () is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, th ...
Khanpasha Terkibayev ("Abu Bakar"), whose name was in the list of hostage takers and who left the theater alive.
In April 2003 Litvinenko gave information about Terkibayev ("the Terkibayev file") to
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Юшенко́в; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political par ...
when he visited London. Yushenkov passed this file to Politkovskaya and she was able to interview Terkibayev in person.
[ Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. '' Death of a dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB'', The Free Press (2007) ] A few days later, Yushenkov was assassinated by gunfire in Moscow. Terkibayev was later killed in an apparent car crash in Chechnya.
In June 2003, Litvinenko stated in an interview with the Australian television programme ''
Dateline
A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization i ...
'', that two of the Chechen militants involved in the siege—whom he named "
Abdul
Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, me ...
the Bloody" and "Abu Bakar"—were working for the FSB, and that the agency manipulated the terrorists into staging the attack. Litvinenko said: "
en they tried to find
bdul the Bloody and Abu Bakaramong the rotting corpses of dead terrorists, they weren't there. The FSB got its agents out. So the FSB agents among Chechens organized the whole thing on FSB orders, and those agents were released". "Abu Bakar" (presumably Terkibayev) was also described as an FSB agent and organizer of the theater siege by
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...
,
Alexander Khinshtein and other journalists. Sanobar Shermatova and a co-author had pointed out in "Moskovskie novosti" that Terkibaev had for a number of years been involved in "anti-Wahhabi" activities.
John Dunlop identifies "Abu Bakar" as Ruslan Elmurzaev, claimed by Mikhail Trepaskin to have been a resident of Moscow, not Chechnya, and to have been involved in various criminal activities operating out of the Hotel Salyut in Moscow. There were reports that Elmurzaev had not been killed in the storming of the theater. Film director Sergei Govorukhin, one of the volunteer negotiators at Dubrovka, has said that he is convinced that Elmurzaev, who he identified as an FSB agent, is still alive. Russian prosecutors were unable to show Elmurzaev's corpse and during a visit to Chechnya in October 2003, Russian intelligence officers confirmed to him that Elmurzaev was alive and well and living in Chechnya.
The titular leader of the hostage takers was one Movsar Baraev, the nephew of the late and infamous "wahhabi" kidnapper Arbi Baraev, a figure reported to have shadowy connections to both the FSB and GRU. In January 2003, the French journalist Anne Nivat reported that Baraev had been arrested two months before the hostage-taking incident. This information being true, Baraev was already in Russian custody when the theater siege occurred. Nivat also reported that two of the female hostage takers were also in Russian custody at the time of the siege while late Duma Deputy Yurii Shchekochikhin wrote that another female hostage taker was in custody at the time.
That "Abu Bakar" was in control and not Baraev was supported by an article in "Moskovskie novosti" by journalists Shermatova and Teit, in which it was reported that a hushed conversation between Abu Bakar and Baraev had been accidentally captured by NTV. Baraev declared that the hostage takers had been sent by Shamil Basaev only to be quietly corrected by Abu Bakar to add 'Aslan Maskhadov', in order to link the latter to the hostage taking.
There is also the figure of Arman Menkeev, a retired major in the GRU and a specialist in making explosive devices. He was arrested by the Interior Ministry in November 2002 at the Moscow Oblast base allegedly used by the terrorists but was released shortly afterwards. He may have subsequently been rearrested but was not charged with a crime and is apparently not in custody. FSB officers, who interrogated Menkeev in Lefortovo prison, classified him as "loyal to the Russian government", adding that "He knows how to keep a military and state secret".
The plastic explosive used by the terrorists was in fact "imitation plastic explosives" which had a "Ministry of Defense origin". The Moscow City Prosecutor's Office claimed that Menkeev could have been the source of this material.
Apart from two suicide belts, which were more of a danger to the wearers, the bombs placed in the theater (and elsewhere in Moscow prior to the siege) lacked essential elements like batteries; this provided the required conditions for the successful storming of the theater.
As evidence against Maskhadov, Russians cited a tape first shown on Al Jazeera and subsequently on Russian television, although only a fragment of the original tape was shown on Russian TV. On the original full length tape it was evident that it had been made in late summer, not in October, and had concerned a military operation against federal forces, not an act of hostage taking.
Nevertheless, Maskhadov had been discredited although there is no credible evidence to link him with the siege. In the end, it could be said that both the Russian government and the Chechen extremists had achieved their goals; talk of negotiations had ended and Maskhadov's reputation had been damaged.
Moscow lawsuit and the European Court complaint
After the siege, 61 former hostages sought
compensation for physical and emotional suffering totaling almost US$60 million from Moscow city authorities. According to Russia's then-new anti-terrorism law, the region where an act of terror occurs should pay compensation for moral and material damages. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's office denounced the suits, saying it could not be held responsible as "the Chechen issue and its consequences are not within the jurisdiction of the Moscow authorities in any way." The Moscow administration earlier agreed to pay 50,000 roubles ($1,570) in compensation to each former hostage and 100,000 roubles ($3,140) to relatives of those killed. In all but one of the cases, Moscow city courts rejected the compensation claims.
In July 2003, 80 plaintiffs from Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan turned to the European Court for Human Rights, claiming that their right to life had been violated by Russian authorities' handling of the standoff. In April 2007, Igor Trunov, the claimants' advocate, reported that the ECHR had finally begun hearings into a complaint filed in 2003 by the victims against the Russian government. Trunov added that not only Russian citizens, but also those from Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan, filed complaints in the
Strasbourg Court. The plaintiffs demand €50,000 each in compensation for the violation of their human rights. The case was accepted by the court in December 2007.
On 8 July 2008, ''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
'' reported that the hearings at the European Court of Human Rights will be closed to the public at the request of Russian authorities as, according to Igor Trunov, they "have promised full disclosure on how they handled the crisis", including "the makeup of the knockout gas used in the storming of the theater by commandos."
On 20 December 2011, the European Court of Human Rights published its judgement in the case, ordering Russia to pay the 64 applicants a total of 1.3 million euros in compensation. The court also found that Russia had violated Article 2 of the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...
when handling the hostage crisis, "with inadequate planning and conduct of the rescue operation", and with the "authorities' failure to conduct an effective investigation into the rescue operation", although the Court found that there had been "no violation of Article 2 of the Convention on account of the decision by the authorities to resolve the hostage crisis by force and to use the gas."
Chemical agent mystery and subsequent identification
It was reported that efforts to treat victims were complicated because the Russian government refused to inform doctors what type of gas had been used. In the records of the official investigation, the agent is referred to as a "gaseous substance". In other cases, it is referred to as an "unidentified chemical substance".
The Russian Federation, as a member-state of the
Chemical Weapons Convention, undertook "never and under no circumstances to carry out any activities prohibited to member-states of this Convention to develop, to accumulate, to stockpile and to use chemical weapons that can cause death, temporary incapacitation, or permanent harm to humans or animals." The Convention obliges the states to fulfill the conditions of toxic chemicals' use that allow to exclude or considerably reduce the degree of injury and gravity of consequences. (The Convention allows the use of some chemical agents like
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
for "law enforcement including domestic
riot control
Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest.
If a riot is spontaneous and irratio ...
", but requires that "riot control agents" have effects that "disappear within a short time following termination of exposure."
)
Analysis of drug residue from the clothing of two British hostages and the urine of a third British hostage, by a team of researchers at the British chemical and biological defense laboratories at
Porton Down
Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, indicated ''two'' fentanyl derivatives were used. Neither of those two were
fentanyl
Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocain ...
or
3-methylfentanyl (the Russian Minister of Health earlier said fentanyl or one of its derivatives had been used, but did not accurately specify which derivatives).
The Porton Down analysis by James R. Riches and his colleagues showed that while fentanyl or 3-methylfentanyl were absent from the urine of one survivor and residues of the agent in the clothing of two other British survivors, the veterinary large animal sedative drug
carfentanil
Carfentanil or carfentanyl, sold under the brand name Wildnil, is a very potent opioid analgesic which is used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. It is typically administered in this context ...
and anesthetic agent
remifentanil
Remifentanil is a potent, short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic drug. It is given to patients during surgery to relieve pain and as an adjunct to an anaesthetic. Remifentanil is used for sedation as well as combined with other medications fo ...
were identified by liquid chromatographic
tandem mass spectrometry
Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, is a technique in instrumental analysis where two or more mass analyzers are coupled together using an additional reaction step to increase their abilities to analyse chemical samples. A com ...
in one hostage's urine and on the clothing of three hostages who had returned to Britain after the hostage rescue. The authors concluded that carfentanil and remifentanil were used as a mixture in the chemical agent employed by Russian troops to subdue the Chechen terrorists and hostages at the Barricade Theater, perhaps suspended in the anesthetic agent
halothane
Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful i ...
.
International reaction
*
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
In unanimously adopting
Resolution 1440 (2002), the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
condemned the "heinous" act and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The Council also demanded immediate and unconditional release of all hostages of that terrorist act and expressed the deepest sympathy and condolences to the people and the government of the Russian Federation and to the victims of the terrorist attack and their families. In addition, the Council urged all states to cooperate with the Russian Federation authorities in their efforts to find and bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of that terrorist attack.
*In a statement read on Iraqi state television, Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
said the hostage-taking would eventually benefit the United States and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in undermining
Islam: "It's not wise for the Chechens to lose the sympathy of Russia and the Russian people. The
tyrant
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to re ...
of our era is
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
and America, and not Russia,
China or
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
."
In popular culture
In 2003, HBO broadcast ''Terror In Moscow'', a documentary directed by Dan Reed. Interviews with hostages and footage taken inside and outside the theater during the crisis are shown.
In 2004 A documentary by the
BBC's ''Horizon'' investigated the gas that was pumped into the theater.
The 2006 play ''In Your Hands'' is based on the events of the Moscow theater siege, written by
Natalia Pelevine, opened in London at the
New End Theatre
The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011.
It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-de ...
. In April 2008, Pelevine said that Russian authorities had banned the play following its Russian debut in the city of
Makhachkala
Makhachkala ( rus, Махачкала, , məxətɕkɐˈla, links=yes),; av, Махӏачхъала, Maħaçqala; ce, ХӀинжа-ГӀала, Hinƶa-Ġala; az, Маһачгала, Mahaçqala; nog, Махачкала; lbe, Махачкъала; ...
, the capital of
Dagestan near Chechnya.
The play ''We Declare You a Terrorist'', by Tim J. Lord and based upon the attack, premiered at the 2009
Summer Play Festival.
The 2015 first-person shooter game ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game was ...
'' cites the crisis and FSB response as an inspiration for their hostage rescue game mode.
Christopher Nolan's movie ''
Tenet'', released in August 2020, opens with a prologue that fans and critics have speculated is based on the attack.
Part III Episode 6 (2019) of the Netflix Spanish drama series ''The Money Heist'' (''La Casa de Papel'') contains repeated in-dialog references to Putin's use of halothane gas, and his indifference to the fate of hostages and hostage takers. Exasperated Spanish authorities approve a Putin-style assault on the Bank of Spain, which has been captured by robbers who have dozens of hostages. Halothane gas is used in the fictional assault.
Episode 9 of the 1st season of ''
FBI: International'', "One Kind of Madman", depicts a group of Albanian terrorists raiding a
Sofia, Bulgaria theatre, holding the audience and US student performers hostage and demanding a ransom paid in cryptocurrency in exchange for release. The synopsis was inspired by the Moscow theater hostage crisis, and within the episode, the Bulgarian
commissar threatens and attempts to pump in poison gas in order to resolve the threat at all costs exactly just like the Russians did in 2002, which the lead FBI International team lead agent retorted that the casualty could be reaching 170 should the Bulgarians do so. Though in the episode, the hostage crisis was barely resolved without the need of pumping in poison gas when all the terrorists inside the theatre was killed, and Bulgarian law enforcement only had seconds to go before pumping in the poison gas via the air conditioning system.
A Russian DLC for
Postal 2
''Postal 2'' is a 2003 first-person shooter developed by Running with Scissors. It is the sequel to the 1997 game '' Postal'' and was released for Microsoft Windows in April 2003, macOS in April 2004 and Linux in April 2005. ''Postal 2'', as wel ...
known as "Штопор ЖжОт" (translated as "Corkscrew Rules") contains a reference to the attack, as the protagonist finds himself in a theater during a mission when terrorists start swarming in and attack the player, while also fighting against police forces.
''Conference (Конференция'') tells the story of survivor Natasha (Natalya Pavlenko) who 17 years later returns to the deadly terrorist siege in the Moscow theatre to hold a memorial evening, finally able to confront her survivor's guilt and her estranged daughter and husband. The 2020 film is by Russian writer and director Igor I. Tverdovskiy.
See also
*
List of hostage crises
This is a list of notable hostage crises by date.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Hostage Crises
+
Hostage crises
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liber ...
References
Further reading
*
Report on the crisis and legal proceedings Published 26 April 2006
.
*
Nord-Ost. Memorial Book of Lost Hostages. Above site in English, winner of 2007 'Golden Site' award.*}
Moscow hostage crisis: timeline BBC News. 26 October 2002.
''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
''. 28 October 2002.
*
*
Moscow theatre siege BBC News. 4 November 2002.
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
. 18 December 2003 (Part
2an
3.
External links
The Moscow Theatre Siege – transcript BBC. 15 January 2004.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moscow Theater Hostage Crisis
Terrorist incidents in Russia in 2002
Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002
Mass murder in 2002
21st-century mass murder in Russia
Massacres in Russia
Massacres in 2002
Hostage taking in Russia
Islamic terrorism in Russia
Events in Moscow
Russian special forces operations
Terrorist incidents in Moscow
Terrorist incidents of the Second Chechen War
2002 in Moscow
Chemical warfare
Attacks on theatres
Murder in Moscow
Terrorism in Europe
Islamic terrorism in Europe
October 2002 events in Russia
2002 in theatre
Hostage rescue operations