"Nord-Ost": how was it in reality? "Mom, everything will be fine!"

fifty eight hours

The nightmare on Melnikov Street in Moscow lasted so long, which kept the whole country in suspense

October 23

21.15. Armed people in camouflage burst into the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka, on Melnikova Street (the former Palace of Culture of the State Bearing Plant). At this time, the musical "Nord-Ost" is going on in the Palace of Culture, more than 800 people are in the hall.

The terrorists declare all people hostages and begin to mine the building. In the first minutes, part of the actors and employees of the theater center managed to escape from the building through the windows and emergency exits.

22.00. It becomes known that the theater building was seized by a detachment of Chechen fighters led by Movsar Baraev. According to eyewitnesses, there are 30-40 terrorists, among them there are women, all of them are hung with explosives. According to the first reports, they are demanding an end to the war in Chechnya. Units of the special forces of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and internal troops continue to arrive at the building of the Palace of Culture.

October 24

00.15 . First attempt to establish contact with terrorists. State Duma deputy from Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov is walking into the building of the center.

02.20. Terrorists release 17 people without any conditions.

03.00–9.00. The special services are unsuccessfully trying to establish contact with the militants. By this time, FSB officers knew that the hostage-taking was planned on the instructions of Aslan Maskhadov and international terrorist organizations.

9.30. Foreign diplomats come to the building of the Palace of Culture. It is known that among the hostages there are about 60-70 citizens of foreign countries. Negotiations with terrorists break down.

11.30–12.20. The militants demand for negotiations Boris Nemtsov, Irina Khakamada and Grigory Yavlinsky, as well as journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

13.00. State Duma deputy Iosif Kobzon and Red Cross doctors are walking into the center. Half an hour later they take a woman and three children out of the building.

15.00. Iosif Kobzon and Irina Khakamada are again negotiating.

18.30. Terrorists shoot from a grenade launcher at two women who escaped from the recreation center. One commando was wounded. The hostages were not hurt.

19.00. The Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera shows the appeal of the militants of Movsar Barayev, recorded a few days before the capture of the Palace of Culture. The terrorists declare themselves suicide bombers and demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.

19.00–00.00. Unsuccessful attempts to persuade the militants to accept food and water for the hostages.

the 25th of October

01.00. Terrorists let Leonid Roshal, head of the emergency surgery and trauma department of the Center for Disaster Medicine, into the building. He brings medicines to the hostages and provides them with first aid.

5.30–6.30. The militants release seven people.

11.30 - 12.30. The militants release eight children, including one girl from Switzerland. After that, the negotiations are terminated.

15.00. In the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB. Following the meeting, FSB director Nikolai Patrushev said that the authorities were ready to save the lives of the terrorists if they released all the hostages.

20.00–21.00. An attempt to establish contact with the militants is made by the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Primakov, ex-president of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, State Duma deputy Aslambek Aslakhanov and singer Alla Pugacheva.

21.50. The terrorists free three women and a man.

October 26

Three explosions and several automatic bursts are heard near the building of the Palace of Culture. After that, the shooting stops. The special forces begin to regroup forces around the Theater Center. Journalists are pushed out of the line of sight, but there is no official confirmation of the start of the assault.

5.45. Representatives of the headquarters report that in the past two hours the terrorists have killed two and wounded two more hostages.

6.20. Several more powerful explosions are heard, and shooting resumes. Two hostages run out of the DC building. Representatives of the headquarters report that six more managed to escape earlier.

6.30. The official representative of the FSB, Sergei Ignatchenko, reports that the Theater Center is under the control of special services, Movsar Baraev and most of the terrorists have been destroyed. Nothing is reported about the victims among the hostages.

6.30 - 6.45. On command, dozens of emergency vehicles and ambulances, as well as buses, drive up to the building of the Palace of Culture.

6.45 - 7.00. Rescuers and doctors begin to take the hostages out of the building, they are transported to hospitals.

7.25. Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Yastrzhembsky officially declares that the operation to free the hostages has been completed, most of the explosive devices in the building of the recreation center have been neutralized. He reports that the special services are looking for some of the terrorists who managed to escape.

Terrorist act on Dubrovka (October 23-26, 2002)

October 23, 2016 marks 14 years since the seizure of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. The attack, also referred to simply as "Nord-Ost", took place on October 23-26, 2002 in Moscow. A group of armed militants led by Movsar Barayev took 916 people hostage. In exchange for their lives, the "Barayevites" demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of federal troops from the territory of the republic. The demands of the militants were not satisfied. After almost three days, the security forces carried out an operation to free them, during which, according to official data, 130 hostages were killed, more than 700 were injured. During the operation, 40 militants were killed.

Despite the reopening of the criminal case in 2014, relatives and friends of the victims do not believe in further objective investigation of the case or in getting answers to much more important questions – what kind of gas was used during the assault and on whose orders, why competent evacuation was not organized and providing medical assistance to the victims.

Ruslan Elmurzaev, nicknamed "Abubakar", who headed the economic security service and was actually the owner of Prima Bank, was appointed the direct organizer of the action, Aslanbek Khaskhanov was his assistant, and the commander of the sabotage and terrorist group was the nephew of Arbi Baraev, who was killed in 2001, one of leaders of the Islamic Special Purpose Regiment Movsar Barayev .

The delivery of weapons to Moscow began almost immediately after the decision to carry out the attack was made. The main part of the weapon was transported on KamAZ under the load of apples. The cargo with weapons included 18 Kalashnikov assault rifles; 20 Makarov and Stechkin pistols; several hundred kilograms of plastite; over 100 grenades. Weapons and explosives were delivered to the village of Chernoye, Balashikha District, near Moscow, where Khampash Sobraliev had been living since April 2002. Participation in the manufacture of explosive devices was taken by Arman Menkeev, who settled in the house as a guest, retired in December 1999, a GRU major and an expert in the manufacture of explosive devices.

23:05 - Five actors who were locked in the dressing room manage to escape from the captured building.

23:30 - Pulls up to the building military equipment, at this time, seven members of the musical's technical team manage to escape from it, who managed to close in the editing room.

October 24

00:00 - The building of the Theater Center on Melnikova Street is completely blocked, the operatives are trying to get in touch with the terrorists who seized the building. The terrorists release 15 children and dozens more people, including women, foreigners and Muslims.

00:30 - During the negotiations, the terrorists put forward a demand for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of troops from Chechnya.

02:00 - Deputy of the State Duma from Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov is negotiating with the leader of the terrorists, no agreements have been reached.

03:50 - Terrorists free two children school age.

05:30 - 26-year-old Olga Nikolaevna Romanova enters the building of the Theater Center, enters the hall and enters into a skirmish with Movsar Baraev. She is quickly interrogated, taken to the corridor and killed with three machine gun shots.

10:20-12:50 - The terrorists demand the arrival of representatives of the Red Cross and the organization "Doctors Without Borders" for negotiations on the condition that there are no Russians among the representatives of these organizations. A little later, additional demands are put forward on the mandatory participation in the negotiations of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, politicians Irina Khakamada and Grigory Yavlinsky.

15:35 - Iosif Kobzon and Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Irina Khakamada enter the building of the House of Culture. During negotiations with them, the terrorists declare their readiness to release 50 hostages if the head of the Chechen administration, Akhmat Kadyrov, comes to them. Half an hour later, the negotiators leave the DC building.

17:00 - The head of the Department of Emergency Surgery and Trauma enters the building of the House of Culture childhood Research Institute of Pediatrics Science Center health of children of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Leonid Roshal and Jordanian doctor, associate professor of the Department of Surgery of the Academy named after Sechenov Anwar El-Said. After 15 minutes, they pull out the body of the murdered Olga Romanova. Having handed over the body to the ambulance staff, they return to the building of the Theater Center.

18:31 - During a trip to the toilet, two girls - Elena Zinovieva and Svetlana Kononova - get out through the window into the street and run. The terrorists unsuccessfully shoot after them from machine guns and twice from an underbarrel grenade launcher, easily injuring Major Konstantin Zhuravlev, a fighter of the Alpha group, who was covering the girls.

19:00 - The Qatari TV channel "Al-Jazeera" shows the appeal of the militant Movsar Barayev, recorded a few days before the capture of the Palace of Culture. In the video shown, Movsar Barayev claims that his group belongs to a "sabotage and reconnaissance brigade of righteous martyrs" and demands the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.

21:30 - According to updated data, 39 people have been released by terrorists since the hostage-taking.

23:05 - State Duma deputy Grigory Yavlinsky enters the building of the Theater Center and conducts 50-minute negotiations with the terrorists.

the 25th of October

01:30 - Leonid Roshal enters the building. Together with him, NTV correspondent Sergei Dedukh and cameraman Anton Peredelsky enter the building. They are in the building for about 40 minutes, during which they manage to talk with the terrorists and six hostages.

12:34 - Representatives of the Red Cross take out eight children aged from six to 12 from the building seized by terrorists.

14:50 - Leonid Roshal and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya enter the building of the captured House of Culture, they carry three large bags of water and personal hygiene items to the hostages.

15:30 - In the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a meeting with the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, as well as with the leaders of Duma associations. FSB director Nikolai Patrushev says the authorities are ready to keep the terrorists alive if they release all the hostages.

17:00-20:20 - Through Sergei Govorukhin, the terrorists convey that they refuse to conduct further negotiations.

October 26

00:30-02:00 - One of the hostages falls into hysterics and with a bottle rushes to the terrorist, who is next to the explosive device. The militants open fire on him with machine guns, but miss and hit two other hostages ( Tamara Starkova and Pavel Zakharov). The terrorists are allowed to carry the wounded hostages to the first floor and call the ambulance officers to the building.

Storm

04:48 - The command is transmitted to the soldiers of the special forces by radio: "Attention, attention to everyone! Thunder says, all groups assault, assault, assault!" .

05:00 - The besiegers began to pump sleeping gas into the building through the ventilation. People inside the building - militants and hostages - at first mistook the gas for smoke from a fire, but soon realized that this was not the case. It was probably a fentanyl-based chemical warfare agent. The exact composition of the gas remained unknown to the doctors who rescued the hostages.

05:30 - Three explosions and several automatic bursts are heard near the building of the Palace of Culture. After that, the shooting stops. Special units "Alpha" and "Vympel" of the Central Security Service of the FSB are starting to regroup forces around the Theater Center. There is information about the beginning of the operation to storm the building.

06:30 - The official representative of the FSB, Sergei Ignatchenko, reports that the Theater Center is under the control of special services, Movsar Baraev and most of the terrorists have been destroyed.

06:30-06:45 - Dozens of cars of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ambulances, buses drive up to the building of the Palace of Culture.

06:45-07:00 - Rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and doctors begin to remove the hostages from the building, provide medical care and hospitalization.

07:25 - Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Yastrzhembsky officially announces the completion of the operation to free the hostages.

08:00 - Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev reports on the destruction of 36 terrorists, the release of more than 750 hostages and the removal of 67 bodies of the dead.

The first official report on isolated cases of hostage deaths was made at about 08:00, but Deputy Chief of Staff Vladimir Vasilyev reports that there are no children among the dead. As it became known from the materials of the criminal case, by that time the death of five children had already been ascertained.

13:00 - At a press conference, Deputy Chief of Staff Vasiliev reported the death of 67 people, but still did not report the death of children. The use of special equipment during the assault was announced for the first time.

13:45 - Operational headquarters stopped its work.

Consequences

October 28, 2002 declared a day of mourning in Russian Federation for the victims of the terrorist act.

As a result of the terrorist attack, according to official figures, 130 people were killed, including 10 children. Of the dead hostages, five people were shot dead before the assault, the rest died after the liberation.

During the assault, a special gas was used to put the members of the terrorist group to sleep.

On October 27, 2002, Andrey Seltsovsky, chief doctor of Moscow, declared that "one does not die from the use of such special equipment in its pure form." According to Seltsovsky, the impact of the special gas only exacerbated a number of destructive factors that the hostages were exposed to under the conditions created by the terrorists.

On October 30, 2002, Russian Minister of Health Yuri Shevchenko reported that a composition of gases based on fentanyl derivatives was used during the operation to free the hostages.

On September 20, 2003, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that "these people did not die as a result of the action of the gas", which, according to him, was harmless, but became victims of "a number of circumstances: dehydration, chronic diseases, the very fact that they had to stay in that building." In the death certificates issued to the relatives of the victims, a dash was placed in the column "cause of death".

An unnamed representative of the US leadership said that after the terrorist attack on Dubrovka, Maskhadov completely lost his legitimacy and cannot claim to participate in the peace process.

Trials

In 2003-2007, six accomplices of terrorists, by decision of the Moscow City Court, received from 8.5 to 22 years in prison.

On November 22, 2002, the Prosecutor General's Office announced the involvement of Chechens Aslan Murdalov and the brothers Alikhan and Akhyad Mezhiyev in the terrorist attack, who were detained in the same month for blowing up a car near a McDonald's restaurant on October 19. Later, the leader of the group, Aslanbek Khaskhanov, and his accomplice, Khampash Sobraliev, were detained. In 2004-2006, all four received from 15 to 22 years in a strict regime colony.

On June 20, 2003, the Moscow City Court found Zaurbek Talkhigov guilty of aiding terrorism and taking hostages at Dubrovka and sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison. According to investigators, he gave the militants information about the location of the special forces by phone. On September 9, 2003, the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the verdict of the Moscow City Court.

On October 22, 2003, Chechens Shamil Basaev, Gerikhan Dudayev and Khasan Zakaev were charged in absentia with organizing a terrorist act. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, who was in Qatar, was accused of aiding the terrorists. In 2004, Yandarbiyev died in a car explosion in Doha. Shamil Basayev was killed in Ingushetia in 2006.

On February 12, 2004, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow sentenced Igor Alyamkin, a police major of the Nizhegorodsky police department, to 7 years in prison, who registered Chechen terrorist Luiza Bakueva, a participant in the seizure of the Theater Center, in the capital.

On June 1, 2007, it became known that The investigation into the circumstances of the terrorist attack at the Dubrovka Theater Center in Moscow has been temporarily suspended. The reason for this was the impossibility of establishing the whereabouts of the accused Dudaev and Zakaev. Previously the documents in the case were classified. The investigation was reopened in January 2009 .

In March 2009, the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow recovered about 130,000 rubles from the claims of the victims of the terrorist attack in the Theater Center on Dubrovka on the fact of the theft of the victims' belongings.

In March 2017 on litigation in the case of Khasan Zakayev, the representatives of the victims demanded to call medical experts, who, regarding the dead, concluded that there was no direct connection between the use of the substance and the consequences - death, but were denied the application. D There is still no answer to the question of what kind of gas was used during the assault. As stated on press conferences"White spots" lawyer Karinna Moskalenko, "This violates the right of victims to privacy, they have the right to know the composition, because the fate of people has changed dramatically. The case is full of blank spots: it is not known who died how, what was the composition of the headquarters, who made decisions on the use of gas?

On March 9, 2017, a representative of the official authorities of Russia for the first time announced the presence of "victims due to negligence during the special operation on Dubrovka" . "For the first time Russia recognizes the presence of casualties due to negligence in the course of a special operation. This is a real breakthrough in the case of a terrorist act," lawyer Maria Kurakina commented in an interview with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on the prosecutor's statement.

The lawyer for the victims, Igor Zuber, said that it is important for him that "the one who is really guilty of the crime be punished," however, "none of the key circumstances of the incident have been established." It is not known "who led the rescue operation, what specific gas was used during the release of the hostages, who gave the order to use the gas, as a result of which the death of each of the dead occurred, and the survivors were harmed, how the victims were assisted."

Criminal case of Khasan Zakayev

On December 17, 2014, the Kommersant newspaper reported that the Investigative Committee for Moscow had resumed an investigation into the criminal case of the seizure of the Theater Center on Dubrovka after the arrest of one of the alleged organizers of the terrorist attack, 41-year-old native of Chechnya Khasan Zakaev, who had been wanted for 12 years.

According to investigators, Khasan Zakayev, along with Shamil Basayev and Gerikhan Dudayev (who is on the wanted list), was one of the co-organizers of the Dubrovka terrorist attack. According to Kommersant's sources, Zakayev, as part of a criminal community organized by Basayev, was responsible for delivering weapons, explosives, and the so-called martyr's belts to Moscow. The militants brought the explosives from Chechnya in a KamAZ truck in compressed air cylinders, and the weapons were in the back under sacks of potatoes. In addition, he and Dudayev distributed the cargo delivered to the capital among apartments and houses previously rented by terrorists.

The Main Investigation Department of the ICR Khasan Zakaev was charged with "preparation for a terrorist act" (part 1 of article 30, article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), "Attempted murder committed by a group of persons" (part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), " Participation in a criminal community "(part 2 of article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and" Illicit trafficking weapons and explosives" (part 3 of article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Suleyman Ibragimov, Zakayev's lawyer, signed a non-disclosure agreement for any information relating to the case of the terrorist act..

On November 22, 2016, Khasan Zakayev admitted in court that he was in possession of money and weapons, but stated that he did not know about the goals of the militants.

March 9, 2017 the prosecutor asked the court find Khasan Zakayev guilty of complicity in hostage-taking at the Theater Center on Dubrovka in 2002, asking to assign Zakayev a sentence of 23 years in a strict regime colony.

On March 21, 2017, the Moscow District Military Court sentenced a native of Chechnya Khasan Zakaev, condemning him to 19 years in a strict regime colony.

August 29, 2017 The Court of Russia considered Khasan Zakaev's appeal against the verdict of the Moscow District Military Court and reduced his term in a strict regime colony by three months.

Decisions of the ECtHR on the claims of victims

On December 20, 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the Finogenov and Others v. Russia case, unanimously finding in the inadequate planning of the rescue operation and in the absence of an effective investigation by the Russian authorities of the rescue operation a violation of Article 2 (on the right to life) of the ECHR and awarding 64 victims of compensation in the total amount of more than one million euros; in the decision of the Russian authorities to use gas, the court, also unanimously, did not see any violations.

October 23, 2014, on the anniversary of the tragedy, Igor Trunov said correspondent " Caucasian Knot that the consideration of all claims filed by him in the ECHR in the Nord-Ost case has been completed. “We have won all the claims in the European Court. The execution of these court decisions is a personal matter for each of the victims, whose rights we defended, I do not know how they receive their payments and how they dispose of them. At present, no one else has applied to us for legal assistance," Trunov said.

On September 22, 2016, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CMCE), having considered the report of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation submitted in August on the execution of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of 2011 in the “Nord-Ost case”, invited Russia to assess “what steps in investigations can still be done" and which "cannot be done for practical or legal reasons". The Committee of Ministers regretted only that the decision of the investigating authorities of the Russian Federation not to open a criminal investigation "does not lead to the execution of the judgment of the ECtHR in this part of it."

Notes

1. Maskhadov initiated a criminal case against Basayev for the seizure of "Nord-Ost" // NEWSru.com, 09.11.2002.
2. Nazarets E. "Nord-Ost": fading hope // Radio Liberty, 10/23/2009.
3. The terrorist attack on Dubrovka ("Nord-Ost"): a chronicle of events // RIA Novosti, 10/23/2010.
4. Several hostage actors managed to escape // RIA Novosti, 10/23/2002.
5. The militants demand to resolve the issue peacefully // Kommersant, 10/25/2002.
6. Children released by terrorists feel good // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002; There are 600-700 hostages in the Theater Center; 150 have already been released // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
7. Deputy of the Duma from Chechnya Aslanbek Aslakhanov held talks with the leader of the terrorists // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
8. The terrorists released two more children // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
9. There are 62 foreigners among the hostages // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002; Terrorists need Yavlinsky and Khakamada // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
10. Terrorists are waiting for Kadyrov's arrival // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
11. The terrorists opened fire on the hostages // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
12. Terrorists on TV // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
13. According to updated data, 39 hostages were released // RIA Novosti, 10/24/2002.
14. Chronicle of events // Kommersant, 10/26/2002.
15. Three-day special issue // Kommersant, 04.11.2002.
16. Representatives of the Red Cross take eight children out of the building // RIA Novosti, 10/25/2002.
17. The son of director Govorukhin went to the terrorists // RIA Novosti, 10/25/2002.
18. Descriptions of the events of the terrorist attack and the special operation - "Nord-Ost". Unfinished investigation…Events, facts, conclusions // Memorial of those killed in Nord-Ost. Book of memory, 04/26/2006.
19. Uncle, will you save me? // Moskovsky Komsomolets, 10/26/2012.
20. Hostage Drama in Moscow: The Scene; The Survivors Dribble Out, All With a Story to Tell // The New York Times, Oct. 28, 2002.
21. Crime scene - Dubrovka // The New Times, 10/22/2012.
22. The scene of the crime is Dubrovka. Nobody answered for the death of 125 hostages // The New Times, 10/22/2012.
23. The terrorist attack on Dubrovka. How it was // 1tvnet, 10/26/2011.
24. Failure to take measures to minimize harm to the hostages - "Nord-Ost". Unfinished investigation…Events, facts, conclusions // Memorial of those killed in Nord-Ost. Book of memory, 04/26/2006.
25. What was the gas? // BBC, Oct 28, 2002.
26. Moskomzdrav: out of 117 dead hostages, 116 were poisoned by gas // Lenta.ru, 10/27/2002.
27. The Minister of Health revealed the secret of gas // Kommersant, 10/31/2002.
28. Investigator: "Chechens were not going to die on Dubrovka" // Nordost.org, 02/14/2011.
29. For the USA, Maskhadov has become "spoiled goods" // Lenta.ru, 10/31/2002.
30. In January 2015, it became known that Akhyad Mezhiev died of tuberculosis in the colony of the Kirov region, where he served his sentence: the terrorist did not live to parole // Kommersant, 01/13/2015.
31. How the terrorist attack on Dubrovka was investigated // Kommersant, 12/17/2014.
32. Zaurbek Talkhigov sentenced to 8.5 years in prison // RIA Novosti, 06/20/2003.
33. How the Dubrovka terrorist attack was investigated // Kommersant, 12/17/2014.
34. The court satisfied the claims of the victims of the terrorist attack on Dubrovka // Kommersant, 03/19/2009.
35. The investigation returned to Nord-Ost // Kommersant, 12/17/2014.

A group of militants took hostage the audience of the musical "Nord-Ost" and employees of the theater. After almost three days, the building was stormed, as a result of which the terrorists were destroyed, and the surviving hostages were released. The attack killed 130 hostages.

According to published investigations, practical steps preparations for the attack have been underway since the beginning of 2002. The final decision on the commission of a major terrorist attack in Moscow with the capture of a large number hostages was taken at a meeting of Chechen field commanders held in the summer of 2002.
Direct preparation of the terrorist act began in the early days of October 2002, when from Chechnya to Moscow in the trunks cars explosives and weapons were delivered. Then, within a month, militants came to Moscow in small groups, who settled in several previously rented apartments located in different parts of the city. The total composition of the terrorist group was approximately 40 people, and half were female suicide bombers. Initially, three objects were considered as a place of a possible terrorist attack, which implied the compact presence of a large number of citizens - Moscow state theater stage, the Moscow Palace of Youth and the Theater Center on Dubrovka. As a result, the choice was made in favor of the latter due to the large number of seats in the auditorium, as well as the smallest number utility rooms that would need to be searched and then monitored.

Chronicle of the terrorist attack on DubrovkaOctober 23 marked ten years since the capture of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. An armed group of bandits broke into the theater building, where the popular musical "Nord-Ost" was being performed, and took 912 people hostage. After almost three days, security forces decided to storm the building. The attack killed 130 people.

He was ordinary concert hall, pop concerts were held here, theatrical performances and so on. In 2001, for the needs of the creators of the musical "Nord-Ost" based on the novel by Veniamin Kaverin "Two Captains", the building was refurbished and renamed.

On October 23, 2002, at 21:15, armed men in camouflage uniforms burst into the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka, arriving in three minibuses. At that time, the musical "Nord-Ost" was going on in the shopping center. There were 916 people in the building - spectators, actors, theater employees, as well as students of the Irish dance school "Iridan".
The terrorists declared all people - spectators and theater workers - hostages and began to mine the building.

The bombs were laid along the walls at a distance of five meters from each other, and metal cylinders were placed in the center of the hall and on the balcony. Inside each is a 152-mm artillery high-explosive fragmentation projectile. The internal cavity between the projectile and the wall of the cylinder was filled with submunitions. Female terrorists are located in a checkerboard pattern at opposite walls. They closed the hall in sectors of 30 degrees. The filling of the "shahid" belt is two kilograms of plastic explosives and another kilogram of metal balls.
In the middle of the hall, in the stalls, a car cylinder with explosives was installed, a suicide bomber was constantly on duty next to it. Such an improvised explosive device was also installed on the balcony. The planned explosions were supposed to go towards each other, destroying all life. For this, a central control panel was made.
Some of the hostages were allowed to call their relatives, to inform about the capture and that for each killed or wounded militant, the terrorists would shoot 10 people.

At 10 p.m., it became known that the shopping center building had been seized by a detachment of Chechen militants led by Movsar Baraev. Reinforced police units, riot police, special forces and internal troops began to converge on the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka.
In the first hours after the capture, part of the actors and employees of the theater center, located in the office, managed to escape from the building through the windows and emergency exits.
Late at night the terrorists released 15 children.

On October 24 at 5.30 a young woman freely entered the building of the Theater Center (later it turned out that it was Olga Romanova, a saleswoman of a perfume shop located next door), and at 8.15 Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Vasilyev entered the building of the Theater Center. Both of them were shot by militants.

The first attempt to establish contact with the terrorists was made on October 24: at 00.15, State Duma deputy from Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov entered the center building. After that, from October 24 to the early morning of October 26, the militants were quite active in negotiations, in which some Russian politicians(Iosif Kobzon, Grigory Yavlinsky, Irina Khakamada), as well as public figures(doctors Leonid Roshal and Anvar El-Said), journalists (Anna Politkovskaya, Sergei Govorukhin, Mark Franchetti, and the film crew of the NTV channel), head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yevgeny Primakov, ex-president of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, singer Alla Pugacheva. During these negotiations, the terrorists released several dozen hostages.

Go to the theater and die. 10 years after DubrovkaThree days and three nights of "Nord-Ost" will unite in memory into one continuous special operation. For those who then anxiously wandered around Dubrovka or listened to the air, it was an endless change of milestones and history from the inside.

October 28, 2002 was declared a day of mourning in the Russian Federation for the victims of the terrorist action.

On October 31, 2002, Colonel Vladimir Eremin, deputy head of the Institute of Criminalistics of the FSB of Russia, reported that explosives experts seized a total of 30 explosive devices, 16 F-1 grenades and 89 improvised hand grenades from the Theater Center on Dubrovka. A common TNT equivalent of explosives in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack at the theater center on Dubrovka on Melnikova Street in Moscow.

On October 23, 2002, a criminal case was initiated in connection with the hostage-taking. As part of the investigation, Shamil Basayev, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev and Akhmed Zakayev were charged in absentia with organizing the terrorist attack. In June 2003, the Moscow prosecutor's office terminated the cases against the invaders in connection with their death.

In April 2004, the Moscow City Court sentenced the brothers Alikhan and Akhyad Mezhiyev, as well as Aslan Murdalov and Khanpasha Sobraliev, to 15 to 22 years in prison. They were found guilty of blowing up a car at a McDonald's in the south-west of Moscow, as well as aiding terrorism and taking hostages in Nord-Ost. Aslanbek Khaskhanov was also found guilty of complicity in the hostage-taking. In July 2006, the Moscow City Court sentenced him to 22 years in prison.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

One of the most failed hostage rescue operations. In fact, the Russian authorities committed mass kill peaceful and unprotected citizens, using gas, and then refusing to cooperate with doctors in order to save people's lives. The shameful operation is a vivid illustration for the whole world that Russia, like other powers, will not save anyone and the fate of each hostage is henceforth the responsibility of the hostage himself. And here you can not blame the fighters of the secret services - orders are not discussed. The fault of politicians and nothing more.

The storming of the Theater Center on Dubrovka in Moscow to free the hostages, the day of death of 128 spectators of the musical " Nord-Ost».

Here is how the Ekho Moskvy radio station reflected it:

Sergey Buntman- October 2002. "Nord-Ost", the theater on Dubrovka is captured by terrorists. Negotiations and conversations have been going on for several days, and attempts are continuing to release at least some of the several hundred hostages.
Our colleague Natasha Skoptsova is in the hall together with her colleague Anya Andrianova. During these days we tried to keep in touch with them all the time. October 26 at half past five in the morning - editor on duty Alyona Stepanenko makes another call from the recording studio. What kind of conversation it was, you will now understand. Just listen to the end, despite the long pauses.

HOW IT WAS
NATALYA SKOPTSOVA: Gas... I don't know, they turned on the gas - all the people are sitting in the hall. We very much ask that we not be the same ... we still hope that maybe we are not on the Kursk, not ... there ... well, come on, maybe I will give you Anya.

ALENA STEPANENKO: She called us, Natasha. Explain what you...

ANNA ANDRIANOVA: This is Anya. It seems that actions began, they began with our ... by our security forces. Guys, don't leave us. A chance… if there is anything we can do, we ask.

A. STEPANENKO: An, we are trying, can you explain what you feel? Tear gas, what is this gas?

A. ANDRIANOVA: I don't know what kind of gas it is, but I see a reaction that these people don't want deaths, either ours or not ours, but in my opinion, our security forces have begun to do something. In my opinion, there is a desire that we do not get out of here alive, and thus end this situation.

A. STEPANENKO: I see. Anya, can you explain what this gas is? Is it tear gas? What happens to people? Do you see it, do you feel it?

A.ANDRIANOVA: Guys, I beg you, I don't know... We see, we feel, we breathe into rags, we breathe into rags, ours are doing something... (SHOT) Ah, that's it! Oh my God. Can you hear us?

A. STEPANENKO: Yes.

A.ANDRIANOVA: We'll all fly to hell in the air. Well, it started ours, actually.

A. STEPANENKO: And what was the shooting like now?

A. ANDRIANOVA: I don't know, I'm sitting with my face in the back and I don't know there... Lord... Lord... We just sat watching NTV and rejoiced. It started from outside. Apparently, our government made such a decision so that no one would get out of here alive. We will try… (SHOOT)

A. STEPANENKO: Can you hear me? (PAUSE) Hello... (SHORT BEEPS)

Sergey Buntman- Yes, it was an assault, and it was gas. The girls, thank God, survived. The recording - as it should be - was not immediately broadcast on the air: we managed to memorize the anti-terrorist rules.
But not even a few hours and days had passed - when the scale of the victims became clear, President Putin began to talk about the "blood rating" and, at the suggestion of the disgraced gas officials, to claim that some people broadcast a live report on the assault. Media leaders were summoned to the hall of the Security Council. Not everyone, though: Boris Jordan, appointed to lead NTV, was not even allowed to enter the door - as the most bloody ratingsman. And it turned out that Venediktov had to take the rap for the entire holding. But just "Echo" could tell whether there was a live broadcast or not. Because we could determine exactly when the assault began from the recording of Anya and Natasha. Next is a matter of technology. And Venediktov laid it all out. They sat in this order: Putin, Ernst, Venediktov. And on the other side of the president - Dobrodeev. "So it wasn't live broadcast, no one! - So?" - asks Venediktov. Ernst, after thinking, honestly confirms: “It wasn’t,” and leans back in his chair, as if leaving Alekseich alone with Putin. Dobrodeev is silent.

http://echo.msk.ru/programs/otgoloski/1548824-echo/

*********************

"Nord-Ost": terror against terrorism

Since one of the worst terrorist attacks in history modern Russia ten years have passed: October 23, 2002 Chechen bandits seized the Theater Center on Dubrovka and took hostage 916 people - spectators and artists of the musical "Nord-Ost". The terrorists, who demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, held captives for three days. participated in negotiations with them. famous politicians and public figures. Thanks to their intervention, it was possible to achieve the release of several hostages, but the separatists refused to release the main group.

Early in the morning of October 26, the authorities decided to storm the theater. Sleeping gas was let into the building through ventilation. All the terrorists were destroyed, but 130 (according to unofficial data - 174) hostages died with them: it is believed that most of them were poisoned by the gas used during the assault. The name of the most successful Russian musical - "Nord-Ost" - has become a household name for this tragedy.

Preparation of sabotage

The plan for a large-scale terrorist attack in Moscow was developed in the summer of 2002. at the headquarters of the leader of the Chechen gangs - the "president of Ichkeria" Aslan Maskhadov. It included not only the capture of several hundred hostages in a building during a cultural event, but also the detonation of cars filled with explosives in crowded places. The action of intimidation was scheduled for November 7 - the Day of Reconciliation and Accord. The field commander Movsar Baraev, the nephew of the destroyed in 2001, was appointed commander of the sabotage-terrorist group. Commander of the Islamic Special Purpose Regiment Arbi Baraev.

In order to divert the attention of the Russian special services from M. Barayev's group, the militants temporarily stopped their armed actions against the federal services. In addition, the separatists launched disinformation that the field commander was seriously wounded and went to Azerbaijan for treatment or died during the fighting. As a result, Boris Podoprigora, commander of the Joint Group of Forces in Chechnya, announced on October 12 that M. Baraev had been eliminated two days earlier in the area of ​​the village of Komsomolskoye as a result of rocket and bomb strikes.

About 50 militants were supposed to take part in the hostage-taking in Moscow, half of which were supposed to be suicide bombers. The terrorists were going to deliver the weapons to the capital in KamAZ, hiding them under a load of apples. However, the truck broke down on the way, so the weapons were transported in the trunks of several Zhiguli cars. Apples were again used for camouflage. The bandits' arsenal consisted of 18 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 20 Makarov and Stechkin pistols, several hundred kilograms of plastite and more than 100 grenades. In addition, in early October, three high-power explosive devices converted from 152-mm artillery shells and equipped for receivers - air cylinders of the KamAZ brake system were delivered from Ingushetia to Moscow on a KamAZ truck loaded with watermelons.

The militants themselves reached the capital in different ways. Most of the terrorists arrived by bus Khasavyurt - Moscow a few days before the theater was occupied. Some suicide bombers flew to Moscow by plane from Ingushetia, and on October 14 M. Baraev arrived at the Kazan station by train, accompanied by two more militants.

The terrorists considered the Moscow Palace of Youth, the Theater Center on Dubrovka and the Moscow State Variety Theater, where the musical "Chicago" was then on, to be most convenient for capture. The second building was chosen as the main target, since it was located far from the city center, had a large auditorium and a small number of other premises.

The militant Aslanbek Khaskhanov was responsible for blowing up the car bombs. To carry out the attacks, three cars were bought - VAZ-2108, VAZ-2106 and "Tavria", in the gas tanks of which special partitions were inserted, which made it possible to operate the cars in normal mode. Gasoline was poured into one half of the gas tank, and explosives were placed into the other. Explosions were supposed to be arranged near the buildings of the State Duma, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and the McDonald's restaurant, located next to the Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station.

Of the planned "preliminary" attacks, the bandits managed to carry out only one. The Tavria car was supposed to explode on October 19 at 19:00 Moscow time near McDonald's on Pokryshkina Street, but the bomb mechanism for some unknown reason worked 6 hours earlier. The victim of the explosion was a 17-year-old teenager, but the plan of the militants, who expected to carry out a terrorist attack at rush hour, was not fully implemented. The other two car bombs never exploded. It is assumed that the plastic explosives used in the construction of the bombs were training and simply did not work at the scheduled time.

"Nord-Ost"

The terrorist attack on Yugo-Zapadnaya led to the activation of the police and special services, as a result of which the militants decided to postpone the hostage-taking from November 7 to October 23. At 19:00 Moscow time, the armed group arrived at the parking lot of international buses in Luzhniki, where three minibuses were waiting for them - a red Ford Transit, a blue Volkswagen Caravelle and a white Dodge Ram 250. At 21:05 Moscow time, the militants arrived at Dubrovka, to the building of the former Palace culture of the 1st State Bearing Plant.

Having run into the theater building, the terrorists neutralized five guards armed only with stun guns and gas pistols. The main part of the group broke into concert hall, where at that time the musical "Nord-Ost" was going on, which gathered more than 800 spectators that evening. Other militants began to check the rest of the premises of the theater center, herding employees and actors of the musical, as well as people who happened to be in the building, into the main hall. A man armed with a machine gun stepped onto the stage, fired several shots into the air and ordered the actors to descend into the hall. The terrorists declared all spectators, actors and theater workers hostages and proceeded to mine the hall. Some spectators were allowed to call their relatives, inform them of their capture and that for every killed or wounded militant, the terrorists promised to shoot 10 people from among the hostages.

In the first minutes of the capture, some actors and employees of the Theater Center managed to lock themselves in the premises or leave the building through the windows and emergency exits.

By 22:00 Moscow time, reinforced police detachments, OMON and SOBR detachments were pulled to the theater on Dubrovka, and the leadership of the capital's police department arrived. Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the incident. It became known that the hostage-taking was carried out by a group of terrorists led by M. Baraev, calling themselves "suicide bombers from the 29th division." The terrorists said that they had no claims against the foreign citizens they had taken prisoner (about 75 people from 14 countries) and promised to release them. The check of passports began in the hall, then all the men were put in the right side of the hall, and the women and children in the left. The actors of the musical were placed on the balcony. In the center of the hall and on the balcony, the militants set up explosive devices converted from artillery shells. Five actors and seven members of the technical team of the musical managed to escape from the captured building.

At nightfall, the terrorists released 15 children and several dozen more people, including women, Muslims and foreigners. During negotiations with the authorities, the militants put forward a demand for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. Early in the morning of October 24, 26-year-old Olga Romanova entered the theater building and got into a skirmish with M. Baraev. The terrorists interrogated her and killed her with three machine gun shots. The militants then demanded the arrival of representatives of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. Later, demands were made for the mandatory participation in the talks of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and politicians Irina Khakamada and Grigory Yavlinsky.

In the afternoon, I. Khakamada and singer, State Duma deputy Iosif Kobzon entered the theater building. During negotiations with them, the terrorists declared their readiness to release 50 hostages if the head of the Chechen administration, Akhmat Kadyrov, came to them. Two hours later, pediatric surgeon Leonid Roshal and Jordanian doctor Anwar El-Said entered the theater. They took out the body of the murdered O. Romanova, handed it over to the ambulance doctors and returned to the center building. At 23:05 Moscow time, State Duma deputy G. Yavlinsky entered the building and held 50-minute negotiations with the terrorists.

On the morning of October 25, a heating main broke in the building of the Theater Center, the lower floors were flooded with hot water. The terrorists regarded this event as a provocation, but the official representative of the headquarters for the release of the hostages denied this assumption. In the afternoon, Vladimir Putin held a meeting in the Kremlin with the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the leaders of the Duma factions. FSB director Nikolai Patrushev said the authorities were ready to keep the terrorists alive if they released all the hostages. From 17:00 to 20:20 Moscow time, Sergei Govorukhin (son of director Stanislav Govorukhin), State Duma deputy Aslambek Aslakhanov, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Primakov and former President of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev entered the theater building in turn. Through S. Govorukhin, the militants informed the authorities that they were refusing to hold further negotiations.

At 23:22 Moscow time, Gennady Vlakh broke through the cordon to the DK building, who mistakenly believed that his son was being held hostage by terrorists. The militants detained him and after a while they shot him. At night, one of the hostages fell into hysterics and, with a bottle in his hands, attacked the terrorist, who was next to the explosive device. The bandits opened fire on him with machine guns, but missed: the bullets hit two other hostages. The terrorists allowed paramedics to take them to the hospital, but one of the wounded died in the hospital.

On the morning of October 26, the authorities decided to storm the Theater Center on Dubrovka. Around 05:00 Moscow time, the floodlights illuminating the main entrance went out. The besiegers released sleeping gas into the building through the ventilation. Presumably, it was a chemical warfare agent based on the opioid analgesic fentanyl. At the same time, the exact composition of the gas was not disclosed even to the doctors who rescued the hostages. At 06:30 Moscow time, three explosions and several automatic bursts were heard near the theater building. Special units "Alpha" and "Vympel" regrouped near the DK building and began the assault. An hour later, the official representative of the FSB, Sergei Ignatchenko, said that the Theater Center was under the control of special services, and M. Baraev and most of the terrorists had been destroyed.

Dozens of emergency vehicles, ambulances and a bus drove up to the theater building. Around 07:00, rescuers and medics began to evacuate the hostages. Many unconscious people were placed on buses. According to official figures, 130 people, including ten children, died as a result of the attack, that is, many more people than the militants managed to shoot.

Some victims of "Nord-Ost" express indignation at the course of the investigation into the circumstances of the storming of the Theater on Dubrovka. Svetlana Gubareva, who lost her 13-year-old daughter and fiancé as a result of the terrorist attack, said in interview Sunday Times that on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, her indignation against President V. Putin only intensified.

The circumstances of the death of 130 hostages during the assault on Nord-Ost are still unknown. S. Gubareva said that her daughter Sasha was gassed and then crushed on the bus that was taking her to the hospital, "under 32 other bodies piled like firewood." “She could have been saved if the rescue operation had been carried out properly. First of all, I blame Putin: he ordered the use of gas, and it is under his rule that the truth is hidden for so long,” the woman said.

The accusations of the former captives and relatives of the victims of the terrorist attack against the Russian authorities boil down to the fact that the released hostages were not provided with timely and qualified medical assistance. One of the reasons for the large number of victims (119 people died in hospitals after the assault was completed) was the improper evacuation of people: due to a strong tilt of the head forward or backward, their airways were blocked, which caused asphyxia.

The composition of the gas used during the storming of the Dubrovka Theater was not disclosed by the authorities. In December 2012 Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Yuri Shevchenko said that his department is not entitled to provide any information about the properties of the gas used during the counter-terrorist operation in Moscow, since this information "belongs to state secrets." The authorities, trying to remove the blame for the death of people, categorically denied and continue to deny that the gas attack could have caused the death of the hostages. In the death certificates issued to the relatives of the victims, a dash was placed in the column "cause of death".

In December 2011 The European Court of Human Rights found Russia to have violated Article 2 (the right to life) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights in the hostage-taking case at the Dubrovka Theater Center in Moscow. The court decided to pay compensation to 64 plaintiffs in the amount of 8.8 thousand to 66 thousand euros. The applicants accuse the Russian authorities of unjustified use of force, failure to provide timely medical assistance to the hostages and ineffective investigation of this terrorist attack. The complaint to the court was filed in 2003, in 2007. it was accepted for production. It also mentioned that the special forces used an unknown gas during the assault, which led to the death of most of the hostages.

Despite statements by officials that all the militants who took part in the capture of Nord-Ost were destroyed, Novaya Gazeta journalist A. Politkovskaya managed to interview the surviving terrorist, a correspondent for one of the state media, Khanpashi Terkibaev. He took part in the capture of the theater, but managed to get out of the building before the assault began. According to him, the explosives used by the terrorists to intimidate the hostages and negotiators were fake. According to A. Politkovskaya, the official investigation ignored the journalists' request to interrogate Kh. Terkibaev, and six months after the interview, he suddenly died in a car accident. The accident happened after the US intelligence agencies, investigating the death of their citizen in the theater, became interested in his testimony. A. Politkovskaya herself was shot dead in the entrance of her house in the center of Moscow on October 7, 2006.

As a result of the terrorist attack on Dubrovka, not only the hostages suffered. The story of the Chechen Zaurbek Talkhigov, who spent 8.5 years in a colony for aiding terrorists, looks strange. According to Russian human rights activists, in October 2002. he came to the Theater Center on Dubrovka following a televised call from State Duma deputy Aslambek Aslakhanov, who asked all Chechens in Moscow to surround the building with a human ring and force the terrorists to surrender. The plan failed - there were few who responded to the call. Then the deputy asked Z. Talkhigov to contact the invaders and told him the phone number of their leader M. Baraev. Z. Talkhigov called the leader of the militants and negotiated with them, trying to gain their confidence and gain concessions for the hostages. For this young man I had to tell the terrorists all the data about myself and the place of residence of my family. All of Z. Talkhigov's negotiations were held in the presence of special services officers and met with no objections from their side. However, on the same day, an hour and a half after last conversation with militants, Z. Talkhigov was detained by representatives of the FSB. He was charged with aiding terrorists.

Despite the fact that in the course of the process, witnesses one after another confirmed the innocence of the defendant, on June 20, 2003. Moscow City Court judge M.Komarova found 25-year-old Z.Talkhigov guilty of "complicity in terrorism and hostage-taking" (Articles 30, 205 and 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison in a strict regime colony. On September 9, 2003, the cassation instance, represented by the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, upheld the verdict, in the text of which it was unequivocally noted that when Z. Talkhigov came to the Theater Center, "he had no intent to aid terrorists" .

During the trial, the FSB reported that part of the printouts of Z. Talkhigov's negotiations with the militants "destroyed as unnecessary", so the court was able to study only a small part of the negotiations, and a large part, regarding the release of the hostages, remained outside its study. The state prosecutor also acknowledged this: "Indeed, only part of the negotiations was presented to the court, but this happened because the Chekists did not immediately receive permission to record them."

The regional public organization for the protection of victims of terrorist acts "Nord-Ost" asks the Russians to take part in a commemorative event dedicated to the tenth anniversary tragic events at the Theater Center on Dubrovka. It will take place on October 26 from 10:00 to 12:00 Moscow time in Moscow, on the square near the Theater Center (metro station "Dubrovka" or "Proletarskaya", Melnikova street, 7).

Read more on RBC:
http://www.rbc.ru/society/23/10/2012/675653.shtml

On October 23, 2002, terrorists seized the building of the Moscow Bearing Palace of Culture, where the musical Nord-Ost was playing. 916 people became hostages. As a result of the assault, up to 174 people died three days later, the exact number is still unknown. Some details of the attack and the assault are also unknown.

How many people died. Official version- 130 people. The lawyer of the hostages and their relatives, Karinna Moskalenko, based on the data of the investigation, stated that 174 people were killed. The head of the investigation team Vladimir Kalchuk, in response to claims about the difference in estimates of the death toll, said: “Well, you think so, but I think so, what do you want from me?”

Why did they die. From the actions of terrorists killed only four. In the death certificates of some of the victims of the terrorist attack, a dash in the column “Cause of death. President Vladimir Putin, a year after the attack, said that people died due to "dehydration, chronic diseases, the very fact that they had to stay in that building." Vladimir Vasilyev, at that time the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and deputy chief of the operational headquarters at Nord-Ost, said that the main reason for the death of the hostages was "untimely provision of medical assistance." Experts and relatives of the hostages believe that people died due to poisoning with an unknown gas, which the special forces used during the assault on the Palace of Culture. Vladimir Putin claimed that the gas is harmless.

"The other day" on NTV after the terrorist attack. This episode and the talk show "Freedom of Speech", where the relatives of the victims criticized the actions of the authorities, are believed to have led to a change in the leadership of the channel

What was the gas. The formula of the substance is a state secret. It was a "special formulation based on fentanyl derivatives," the FSB reported and confirmed Russian Health Minister Yuri Shevchenko. According to the doctor of chemical sciences, president of the Union "For Chemical Safety" Lev Fedorov, this information is "about nothing at all": "You can hang a thousand tails on fentanyl - and you get a million different substances." According to Kommersant, the gas was "either hypnotic or nerve agent".

According to Anatoly Yermolin, former boss of the operational-combat department of Vympel, a lieutenant colonel of the FSB in the reserve, some special forces who inhaled gas during the assault “later had big health problems.” “I’m very bad at remembering text, people’s faces. This is not only for me, for almost all the guys with whom we worked, so. Severe headaches never went away,” said actor Marat Abdrakhimov, who was injured in the attack.

Chapter public organization"Nord-Ost" Tatyana Karpova told New Times magazine that doctors were not told anything about the substance. One of the doctors saw in people “a condition that occurs with a drug overdose. The doctor tried to use naloxone, which brings people out of a coma in case of drug poisoning. It worked." Then they took a non-disclosure agreement from the doctors who worked with the hostages.

Why was everything so organised. The gas did not put all the terrorists to sleep - those who were still awake could detonate bombs and bury both the hostages and the commandos. The victims of the attack were carried out of the building and laid in piles on the ground. They were transported in a bustle to hospitals on buses: policemen demanded "immediately load [the victims] into bulk and drive off." For a day after the assault there was no information about almost a hundred people, the hospitals did not want to give information about them. Doctors “were preparing to receive patients with mine fragmentation wounds and were not ready to accept people with poisoning by an unknown substance,” said the father of Kristina Kurbatova, who died in the terrorist attack, Vladimir Kurbatov.

According to Kurbatov, these investigations into the attack are classified. Full list members of the headquarters of the rescue operation is also classified. How well the headquarters planned and carried out the rescue operation was not officially investigated or evaluated by the Russian authorities. The European Court of Human Rights in 2011 considered that the operation was carried out improperly, and collected compensation from Russia in the amount of 1.3 million euros for 64 victims.