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

October 23, 2019 marked the 17th anniversary of the capture of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. The terrorist 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 terrorists demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of federal troops from the republic. The insurgents' demands were not met. Almost three days later, the security forces carried out a liberation operation, during which, according to official data, 130 hostages were killed, more than 700 were injured. During the operation, 40 militants were killed.

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

The delivery of weapons to Moscow began almost immediately after the decision to carry out the terrorist attack was made. The main part of the weapon was transported at KamAZ under a load of apples. The weapon load included 18 Kalashnikov assault rifles; 20 Makarov and Stechkin pistols; several hundred kilograms of plastic; more than 100 grenades. Weapons and explosives were delivered to the village of Chernoe near Moscow in the Balashikha district, where Khampash Sobraliev lived since April 2002. Arman Menkeev, who retired in December 1999, a major of the GRU and a specialist in the manufacture of explosive devices, took part in the manufacture of explosive devices.

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

23:30 - Military equipment is being pulled up to the building, at this time seven members of the technical group of the musical manage to escape from it, who managed to close themselves in the editing room.

October 24

00:00 - The building of the Theater Center on Melnikov 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 several dozen other people, including women, foreigners and Muslims.

00:30 - During the negotiations, the terrorists put forward a demand for an end to 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 release two school-age children.

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

10:20-12:50 - The terrorists are demanding the arrival of representatives of the Red Cross and the organization "Médecins Sans Frontières" to conduct negotiations on the condition that there are no Russians among the representatives of these organizations. A little later, additional requirements were put forward for the obligatory participation in the negotiations of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, politicians Irina Khakamada and Grigory Yavlinsky.

15:35 - Joseph Kobzon and Deputy 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 arrives. Half an hour later the negotiators leave the building of the Palace of Culture.

17:00 - The head of the Department of Emergency Surgery and Childhood Trauma of the Research Institute of Pediatrics of the Scientific Center for Children's Health of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Leonid Roshal and a Jordanian doctor, associate professor of the Department of Surgery of the Sechenov Academy Anvar El-Said enter the building of the House of Culture. After 15 minutes, they pull out the body of the murdered Olga Romanova. After handing 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 Zinovyeva and Svetlana Kononova - get out through the window into the street and run. Terrorists unsuccessfully shoot after them from machine guns and twice from a grenade launcher, lightly wounding Major Konstantin Zhuravlev, a fighter of the Alpha group, who was covering the girls.

19:00 - The Qatar TV channel Al-Jazeera is showing an appeal by the militant Movsar Barayev, recorded a few days before the seizure of the DC. On the video footage shown, Movsar Barayev claims that his group belongs to the "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 since the terrorists took hostages.

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

the 25th of October

01:30 - Leonid Roshal enters the building. NTV correspondent Sergei Dedukh and cameraman Anton Peredelsky enter the building with him. 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 are taking eight children from six to 12 years old from a 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 with 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 the Duma associations. FSB director Nikolai Patrushev says the authorities are ready to save the terrorists' lives if they release all the hostages.

17:00-20:20 - Through Sergei Govorukhin, the terrorists report that they are refusing to conduct further negotiations.

October 26

00:30-02:00 - One of the hostages goes 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 allowing the wounded hostages to be carried to the first floor and are calling the ambulance personnel into the building.

Storm

04:48 - Soldiers of special forces on the radio transmit the command: "Attention, attention to all! Thunder says, all groups storm, storm, storm!" ...

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

05:30 - At the building of the Palace of Culture three explosions and several automatic rounds are heard. After that, the shooting stops. The special units "Alpha" and "Vympel" of the Central Security Service of the FSB are starting to regroup their forces around the Theater Center. Information is received about the beginning of the operation to storm the building.

06:30 - FSB spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko reports that the Theater Center is under the control of the special services, Movsar Barayev 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 take the hostages out of the building, provide medical assistance and hospitalization.

07:25 - Aide 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 Vasiliev reports on the destruction of 36 terrorists, the release of more than 750 hostages and the recovery of 67 bodies of the dead.

The first official announcement of isolated cases of hostages' deaths was made at about 08:00, however, Deputy Chief of Staff Vladimir Vasilyev reports that there are no children among the victims. As it became known from the materials of the criminal case, by that time the death of five children had already been established.

13:00 - At a press conference, Deputy Chief of Staff Vasiliev announced 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 - The operational headquarters stopped its work.

Effects

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

As a result of the terrorist act, according to official figures, 130 people died, including 10 children. Five of the hostages who died were shot before the assault, the rest died after their release.

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

On October 27, 2002, the chief physician of Moscow, Andrei Seltsovsky, said that "they do not die from the use of such special means in their pure form." According to Seltsovsky, the effect of the special gas only complicated a number of destructive factors that the hostages suffered in the conditions created by the terrorists.

On October 30, 2002, Russian Minister of Health Yuri Shevchenko announced that a composition of gases based on fentanyl derivatives was used during the hostage rescue operation.

On September 20, 2003, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "these people did not die as a result of the action of the gas," which, in his words, 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 deceased, a dash was put in the column "cause of death".

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

Trials

In 2003 - 2007, six accomplices of the 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 that Chechens Aslan Murdalov and brothers Alikhan and Akhyad Mezhievs were involved in the terrorist attack. 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 maximum security 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 the investigation, he transmitted information about the location of the special forces to the militants by telephone. On September 9, 2003, the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the verdict of the Moscow City Court.

On October 22, 2003, accusations in absentia of organizing a terrorist attack were brought against Chechens Shamil Basayev, Gerikhan Dudayev and Khasan Zakayev. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, who was in Qatar, was accused of aiding the terrorists. In 2004, Yandarbiev was killed 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, police major of the Nizhegorodsky police department, to 7 years in prison, who registered in the capital the Chechen terrorist Luisa Bakyeva, who took part in the seizure of the Theater Center.

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

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

In March 2017, at the trial in the case of Khasan Zakayev, representatives of the victims demanded to call medical experts, who, in relation to the dead, gave a conclusion that there was no direct connection between the use of the substance and the consequences - a fatal outcome, but were refused to grant the petition. There is still no answer to the question of what kind of gas was used during the assault. As the lawyer Karinna Moskalenko said at the White Spots press conference, “This violates the victims' right to privacy, they have the right to know the composition, because the fate of people has changed dramatically. the staff of the headquarters, who made the decisions on the use of gas? "

On March 9, 2017, a representative of the Russian authorities announced for the first time that there were "casualties by negligence during the special operation on Dubrovka." "Russia for the first time recognizes the presence of victims through negligence during a special operation. This is a real breakthrough in the case of the terrorist attack," lawyer Maria Kurakina commented on the prosecutor's statement in an interview with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The lawyer of the victims, Igor Zuber, said that it was important for him that "the one who is really guilty of the crime should be punished," but "none of the key circumstances of the incident has been established." It is not known "who led the rescue operation, what kind of gas was used during the release of the hostages, who gave the order to use the gas, which resulted in the death of each of the victims, and the survivors were injured, and how the victims were assisted."

Khasan Zakayev's criminal case

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

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

The main investigation department of the ICR charged Khasan Zakayev with "Preparing 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" Illegal trafficking in weapons and explosives "(part 3 of article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Zakayev's lawyer, Suleiman Ibragimov, was signed to not disclose any information concerning the case of the terrorist attack.

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

On March 9, 2017, the prosecutor asked the court to find Khasan Zakayev guilty of complicity in the seizure of hostages at the Theater Center on Dubrovka in 2002, asking that Zakayev be sentenced to 23 years in a maximum security penal colony.

On March 21, 2017, the Moscow District Military Court passed a sentence to a native of Chechnya, Khasan Zakayev, sentencing him to 19 years in a strict regime colony.

On August 29, 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia considered the appeal of Khasan Zakayev against the verdict of the Moscow District Military Court and reduced the term of his imprisonment in a strict regime colony by three months.

Decisions of the ECHR on claims of victims

On December 20, 2011, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in the Finogenov and Others v. Russia case, unanimously finding that the rescue operation was inadequately planned and that the Russian authorities did not effectively investigate the rescue operation as a violation of Article 2 (on the right to life) of the ECHR and awarded 64 compensation for victims in the total amount of more than a million euros; the court also unanimously found no violations in the decision of the Russian authorities to use gas.

On October 23, 2014, on the anniversary of the tragedy, Igor Trunov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the consideration of all the claims he had filed with the ECHR in the "Nord-Ost" case had been completed. “We have won all the claims in the European Court. The execution of these court decisions is a private matter for each of the victims, whose rights we defended, how they receive their payments and how they dispose of them, I do not know. legal assistance, "- said Trunov.

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) 2011 on the “Nord-Ost case”, invited Russia to assess “what steps investigations can still be made "and which" cannot be done for practical or legal reasons. " The CMCE was regretted only by the fact that the decision of the investigative bodies of the Russian Federation not to open a criminal investigation "does not lead to the execution of the ECtHR ruling in this part."

Memory

The musical "Nord-Ost" existed for several years after the tragedy, despite the difficult associations with it, the roles were played by the same actors.

On the first anniversary of the tragic events, a memorial "In memory of the victims of terrorism" was unveiled in front of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. At the end of 2014, the construction of a church in honor of Saints Cyril and Methodius in memory of those killed in the terrorist attack was completed on Melnikova Street in Moscow.

Notes (edit)

1. Maskhadov opened a criminal case against Basayev for the seizure of "Nord-Ost" // NEWSru.com, 09.11.2002.
2. Nazarets E. "Nord-Ost": a dying hope // Radio Liberty, 23.10.2009.
3. Terrorist attack on Dubrovka ("Nord-Ost"): a chronicle of events // RIA "Novosti", 23.10.2010.
4. Several hostage-actors managed to escape // RIA Novosti, 23.10.2002.
5. The militants demand to resolve the issue peacefully // Kommersant, 25.10.2002.
6. Children released by terrorists feel good // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002; There are 600-700 hostages in the Theater Center; already released 150 // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
7. Duma deputy from Chechnya Aslanbek Aslakhanov held talks with the leader of the terrorists // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
8. Terrorists released two more children // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
9. There are 62 foreigners among the hostages // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002; Terrorists need Yavlinsky and Khakamada // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
10. Terrorists are waiting for Kadyrov's arrival // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
11. Terrorists opened fire on hostages // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
12. Terrorists on TV // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
13. According to the specified data, 39 hostages were released // RIA Novosti, 24.10.2002.
14. Chronicle of events // Kommersant, 26.10.2002.
15. Three-day special issue // Kommersant, 04.11.2002.
16. Representatives of the Red Cross take eight children out of the building // RIA Novosti, 25.10.2002.
17. The son of director Govorukhin went to the terrorists // RIA Novosti, 25.10.2002.
18. Descriptions of the events of the terrorist attack and special operation - "Nord-Ost". Unfinished investigation ... Events, facts, conclusions // Memorial to those killed in Nord-Ost. Book of Memory, 26.04.2006.
19. Uncle, will you save me? // Moskovsky Komsomolets, 26.10.2012.
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, 22.10.2012.
22. The scene of the crime is Dubrovka. Nobody was responsible for the death of 125 hostages // The New Times, 22.10.2012.
23. Terrorist attack on Dubrovka. How it was // 1tvnet, 26.10.2011.
24. Failure to comply with measures to minimize harm to hostages - "Nord-Ost". Unfinished investigation ... Events, facts, conclusions // Memorial to those killed in Nord-Ost. Book of Memory, 26.04.2006.
25. What was the gas? // BBC, Oct 28, 2002.
26. Moskomzdrav: of 117 hostages killed, 116 were gassed // Lenta.ru, 27.10.2002.
27. The Minister of Health Revealed the Secret of Gas // Kommersant, 31.10.2002.
28. Investigator: "The Chechens were not going to die on Dubrovka" // Nordost.org, 14.02.2011.
29. For the United States, Maskhadov has become a "spoiled product" // Lenta.ru, 31.10.2002.
30. In January 2015, it became known that Akhyad Mezhiev died of tuberculosis in the colony of the Kirov region, where he was serving his sentence: The terrorist did not live up to parole // Kommersant, 01/13/2015.
31. How the terrorist attack on Dubrovka was investigated // Kommersant, 17.12.2014.
32. Zaurbek Talkhigov sentenced to 8.5 years in prison // RIA Novosti, 20.06.2003.
33. How the terrorist attack on Dubrovka was investigated // Kommersant, 17.12.2014.
34. The court satisfied the claims of the victims of the terrorist attack on Dubrovka // Kommersant, 19.03.2009.
35. The investigation returned to "Nord-Ost" // Kommersant, 17.12.2014.
36. The accused of complicity in the terrorist attack on Dubrovka partially pleaded guilty // Republic, 11/22/2016.
37. CASE OF FINOGENOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 18299/03 and 27311/03) // European Court of Human Rights, 20 December 2011.
38. The progress of the execution of the ECtHR decision did not evoke a harsh assessment in the Council of Europe // Memorial to those killed in Nord-Ost. Memory book, 23.09.2016.
39. “We were pushed into the same hall and told to play”: what happened to Nord-Ost after the terrorist attack // Evening Moscow, 10/23/2019
40. Monument to victims of gas // Gazeta.ru, 23.10.2003
41. Completed the construction of the temple in memory of those killed in the terrorist attack on Dubrovka // Pravoslavie.ru, 20.11.2014

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Fifteen years ago, on October 23, 2002, at 21:15, armed men in camouflage, who arrived in three minibuses, broke into the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. The musical "Nord-Ost" was on the stage.

The militants led by Movsar Barayev took 912 people hostage. They declared themselves suicide bombers and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Chechnya. In addition to the audience, there were theater staff and students of the Irish dance school "Iridan" in the building. As a result of the terrorist act, according to official data, 130 people were killed (according to the public organization "Nord-Ost" - 174 people).

"The terrorist went up to the stage and fired a machine gun."

A crowd of people in the square in front of the Palace of Culture, seized by terrorists on Wednesday evening. October 24. TASS

“At the beginning of the second section, we saw armed people in the hall ... The first thought was that the writers included such a turn of events in the plot. But then one of the terrorists went up on stage and, in order to attract the attention of people, fired a machine gun, ”recalls Svetlana Gubareva.

“Most of the artists who were not busy at the beginning of the second act were able to come down from the windows in tied suits,” says Georgy Vasiliev, one of the authors and producers of the musical. Some employees managed to escape through emergency exits.

At night, the terrorists released 17 people without setting any conditions. The building of the DK GPZ "Moscow Bearing", where the Theater Center was located, was mined.

The remaining hostages were given sandwiches and juices from the buffet. “One small bottle of water was dispersed through the rows, almost nothing reached the middle of the hall,” says Ksenia Zhorova... - Those who wanted to relieve themselves were not allowed to go to the toilet. The militants decided to organize it in the orchestra pit ”.

"We brought out seven, but the Alpha guy was injured."

Press secretary of the musical "Nord-Ost" Elena Shmeleva near the recreation center. Specialists from the FSB and the police arrived at the scene. October 24. TASS

“We thought about when we would be rescued and what we can do to help this. For myself, I determined that we need to calculate who captured us, how many men, how many women, how many grenades they have, how many weapons they have ... I was able to transfer this data to freedom, "recalls an Interfax employee. Olga Chernyak.

The hostages' phones were taken away, but sometimes they were handed out and allowed to call. “We had to urge relatives to go to rallies 'against the war in Chechnya.' In fact, this was the best way to hide information about who and from what phone the terrorists called to get instructions, ”believes Alexey Kozhevnikov.

The FSB officers learned from the relatives of the hostages' phones. “Suddenly a man appears. We caught him: "Who are you?" - "Watchman" ... And showed how he got out, - says Ilya, FSB officer... - I look at the scheme and call one of the hostages, Anya. I say that there is an opportunity to get out. She said that there are nine people next to her. And I led them on the phone - to the right, to the left, straight ahead. Seven were brought out. And already when the latter was leaving, one of the terrorists saw a shadow from the roof and fired a machine-gun fire. And the Alpha guy who was covering for the hostages was wounded. "

"This thing is enough for three of these buildings."

The militants placed bombs along the walls of the auditorium, and in the center and on the balcony - metal cylinders, inside which were 152-mm artillery high-explosive fragmentation shells and striking elements. The women-shakhidki are arranged in a checkerboard pattern.

The most powerful explosive device was in the stalls. “I really didn’t like this bomb ... I kept looking at it, and the Chechen woman who was sitting next to the bomb asked me:“ Are you afraid of her? Do not be afraid. Do not think that you will get more from her than anyone else. This piece is enough for three such buildings, ”says Svetlana Gubareva.

“From time to time the terrorists walked back and forth. There were bombs and suicide bombers nearby. I remember the constant fear. I remember what my mother said in childhood: when you are scared, you have to pray. I had an icon with me in my wallet, and I prayed, ”says Ksenia Zharkova, who came to the musical with her classmates.

"Children supported adults"

“We didn't sleep, didn't eat. We just sat and waited, the usual state is some kind of numbness, and fits of fear, when just the legs go numb, or suddenly there is a hope of salvation, and now you all start to act ..., - recalls one of the survivors... - One man really went crazy - suddenly jumped up and ran over the backs of the chairs, threw an empty cola bottle at the terrorist. He was shot several times, but they did not hit him, but the quietly sitting spectators. "

“They poisoned jokes, the trombonist Misha Deryugin was sitting behind us - he told us how the musical was prepared,” recalls Sergey Budnitsky, who came to the Palace of Culture with his 13-year-old daughter and her girlfriend, and saw his task in calming the girls. -<…>I also told my whole life. "

According to Olga Chernyak, the children themselves supported the adults: “The adults periodically had a panic. Children reassured their relatives. "

“Next to me were two of our musicians from the orchestra - wife Sasha and husband Zhenya. He has a Ukrainian passport, she has a Russian one, says Georgy Vasiliev. - The Ukrainians were considered foreigners and they promised to release them. And Sasha kept pushing her husband out so that he would give his passport ... But he didn’t move: shut up, I won’t go anywhere without you. Zhenya eventually died. "

"Immediately release the woman who was sitting next to me."

State Duma Deputy Joseph Kobzon brought a woman, three children and a British citizen out of the building of the Theater Center. October 24. TASS

Attempts by politicians and public figures to establish contact with the militants began on the night of October 24. In particular, Joseph Kobzon, British journalist Mark Franchetti and two employees of the Red Cross visited it in the morning. They brought out a woman, three children and a British citizen.

“Three girls were taken out for me. And then one buried herself in me: “There’s a mother,” says Iosif Kobzon. He managed to persuade the militants to let the girl's mother go. “I thought she would rush to me, to the children, crying,” he continues. - Not a fig! Swollen, pale, red eyes, - she rushed to Abu-Bakar (one of the militants): "Immediately release the woman who was sitting next to me, she is pregnant."

According to Kobzon, the pregnant woman was released when Leonid Roshal came. A well-known doctor brought medicines and provided first aid to the victims.

Former hostages tell of yet another, tragic and unsuccessful attempt to help them. On the morning of October 24, a young woman, Olga Romanova, entered the building. She behaved very harshly with the militants, and she was simply shot.

"Mom, everything will be fine!"

People who come to the building seized by terrorists offer themselves in exchange for hostages. October 24. TASS

Relatives and friends of the hostages in despair insisted on fulfilling the demands of the terrorists, offered themselves in exchange for hostages, stood for days at the seized Theater Center or waited for news at the headquarters organized in the building opposite.

“I lived in anticipation of Masha's calls - every three hours she managed to say a few words to me, she kept repeating:“ Mom, everything will be fine! ” - recalls Tatiana Lukashova, the mother of the deceased Masha Panova. - A cell phone was then our greatest asset. And can you imagine, it was stolen from one mother, pulled out of his pocket ”.

People were catching every grain of information. But the actions of journalists at times caused serious damage. For example, when several special forces soldiers, conducting reconnaissance, climbed to the roof of the building, they were immediately shown live. As a result, plans to free the hostages had to be changed.

"We didn't know where the main button is."

Tragedy at the Moscow Theater Center on Dubrovka. A group of militants took the audience of the musical "Nord-Ost" and the theater employees hostage. Almost three days later, the building was assaulted, as a result of which the terrorists were destroyed, and the hostages who survived were released. As a result of the terrorist attack, 130 hostages were killed.

The building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka was built in Moscow on Melnikov Street in 1974 and at first was called the Palace of Culture of the State Bearing Plant (DK GPZ).
The Palace of Culture GPZ was an ordinary concert hall, pop concerts, theatrical performances, etc. were held here.
In 2001, for the needs of the creators of the "Nord-Ost" musical based on the novel "Two Captains" by Veniamin Kaverin, the building was re-equipped and renamed.

October 23, 2002 at 21 hours 15 minutes armed men in camouflage broke into the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. At that time the musical "Nord-Ost" was going on in the shopping center. The terrorists declared all people - spectators and theater workers - hostages and began to mine the building.
As the investigating authorities later found out, 916 people were captured. Of these, about 100 are schoolchildren.
The invaders gave the people present in the hall the opportunity to call their loved ones on their mobile phones, after which the connection with all the callers was interrupted.
V 22 hours it became known that the theater building was seized by a detachment of Chechen militants led by Movsar Barayev. There were women among the terrorists, they were all hung with explosives.

Reinforced police detachments, OMON and SOBR officers, as well as the leadership of the capital's police department began to gather to the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka.
Two armored personnel carriers at the Theater Center on Dubrovka.
At night, a young woman entered the building of the Theater Center without hindrance (later it turned out that it was Olga Romanova). The militants decided that she was an FSB agent and shot her.
Late at night, the terrorists released about 15 children, several actors of the musical "Nord-Ost" managed to escape. One of the released hostages said that there was a counter-terrorist operation by federal troops in Chechnya.

October 24 the first attempt was made to establish contact with terrorists: at 00.42 State Duma deputy from Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov entered the building of the center. He said that he had discussed the possibility of negotiating and offered himself as a negotiator with representatives of a number of security agencies. At about the same time, several hostages managed to get in touch with TV channels and asked not to storm the building, because the terrorists are hung with explosives and are ready to blow up everything around at any moment, in addition, they threaten to kill 10 hostages for each killed militant.
According to law enforcement agencies, by the morning of October 24, terrorists.
V 08.20 it became known that Aslakhanov had a telephone conversation with the head of the terrorists Movsar Barayev, but this conversation did not lead to any results.

After attempts by the special services to establish contact with the militants, State Duma deputy Joseph Kobzon, British journalist Mark Franchetti and two Red Cross doctors entered the center. Soon they took a woman and three children out of the building. V 19 hours The Qatari Al-Jazeera TV channel broadcast an appeal from the head of the militants, Movsar Barayev, recorded a few days before the seizure of the shopping center: the terrorists declared themselves suicide bombers and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. From 7 pm to midnight, unsuccessful attempts to persuade the militants to accept food and water for the hostages continued.
the 25th of October at one in the morning The terrorists allowed Leonid Roshal, the head of the emergency surgery and trauma department of the Center for Disaster Medicine, into the building. He brought medicines to the hostages and provided them with first aid.

In the morning, a spontaneous rally arose near the cordon near the shopping center. Relatives and friends of the hostages demanded to fulfill all the demands of the terrorists.

V 15 hours In the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin held 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 are ready to save the terrorists' lives if they release all the hostages. WITH 20 hours to 21 hours an attempt to establish contact with the militants was made by the head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yevgeny Primakov, ex-President of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, State Duma deputy Aslambek Aslakhanov and singer Alla Pugacheva.
During the day, the terrorists released several people, including eight children.

October 26 at 5:30 am three explosions and several automatic rounds were heard near the building of the shopping center. At about 6 o'clock, special forces began an assault, during which nerve gas was used. V 6.30 In the morning, an FSB official said that the Theater Center is under the control of the special services, Movsar Barayev and most of the terrorists have been destroyed. At the same time, dozens of Ministry of Emergency Situations and ambulances, as well as buses, drove up to the building of the shopping center. Rescuers and doctors took the hostages out of the building and took them to hospitals. V 7 hours 25 minutes Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Yastrzhembsky has officially announced that the operation to free the hostages has been completed.

About 8 am Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasiliev reported the first results of the operation: 36 terrorists were killed, including female suicide bombers, more than 750 hostages were released, 67 people were killed.
On the same day, the FSB of Russia reported that the number of neutralized terrorists only in the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka was 50 people - 18 women and 32 men. Three terrorists were detained.
Subsequently, Moscow prosecutor Mikhail Avdyukov said that a total of 40 terrorists had been killed.

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

October 31, 2002 Deputy Head of the Institute of Forensic Science of the FSB of Russia, Colonel Vladimir Eremin said that from the Theater Center on Dubrovka there are 30 explosive devices, 16 F-1 grenades and 89 homemade hand grenades. The total TNT equivalent of explosives was about 110-120 kilograms.

November 7, 2002 the Moscow prosecutor's office published a list of citizens who died both during their release from the Theater Center and subsequently in hospitals. This one: 120 Russians and 8 citizens from countries of near and far abroad. Five hostages were shot by terrorists.
Later, the death toll of hostages increased to 130 people.
Among the dead - two artists from the children's theater troupe, eight musicians of the orchestra, more than twenty people who worked in "Nord-Ost".

December 30, 2002 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding the Order of Courage to Joseph Kobzon and Leonid Roshal for the courage and dedication shown in saving people in conditions fraught with risk to life.

October 23, 2003 in front of the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka "In memory of the victims of terrorism".

V April 2011 was in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in the theater center on Dubrovka on Melnikov Street in Moscow. The 32-meter-high white-stone temple complex will include a tent-roofed temple for 570 people, crowned with nine golden domes, and a clergy house to house the Sunday school and other needs. The construction of the temple should be completed in 2012.

In connection with the taking of hostages October 23, 2002 a criminal case was initiated under part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 3 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and part 3 of Article 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted terrorism and hostage-taking). As part of the investigation, charges of organizing the terrorist attack were brought against in absentia, in particular, to Shamil Basayev, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev and Akhmed Zakayev. V June 2003 the Moscow prosecutor's office discontinued, in accordance with the RF Code of Criminal Procedure, cases against the invaders in connection with their death.

V April 2004 The Moscow City Court sentenced brothers Alikhan and Akhyad Mezhiyev, as well as Aslan Murdalov and Khanpasha Sobraliev, to a sentence of 15 to 22 years in prison. They were found guilty of blowing up a car at McDonald's in the south-west of Moscow, as well as aiding terrorism and taking hostages at 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.

V June 2007 the investigation in the criminal case opened on October 23, 2002 by the Moscow prosecutor's office into the taking of hostages in the theater center on Dubrovka, which was repeatedly extended, was suspended due to the failure to establish the whereabouts of Zakayev and other persons subject to criminal liability, whose search was entrusted to the criminal wanted by the Municipal Department of Internal Affairs of Moscow.

V February 2011 lawyer Igor Trunov, representing the interests of a number of victims in the case of the terrorist attack in the Theater Center on Dubrovka, said that the prosecutor's office had issued an order to resume the investigation.

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

The new century was remembered by many people on the planet as a series of major tragedies.

In August 2000, the Kursk submarine suffers a disaster.

September 2001 - the largest tragedy in the history of the United States occurs, which the whole world sees live. Terrorists bombing the largest shopping center in New York.

In July 2002, the largest disaster in the history of the air show took place - the Sknilovskaya tragedy. A distressed Su-27 fighter crashes into the crowd of spectators.

From 23.10 to 26.10.2002 - in Moscow, a tragedy in the capital's Theater Center on Dubrovka. Militants take hostage visitors to the musical "Nord-Ost" and theater workers. And now everyone understands by the word "Nord-Ost", and woe for the whole country.

The terrorist attack on Dubrovka - how it happened

The forbidden film "Moscow Siege" tells about all the events that took place during the musical "Nord-Ost" with the accuracy of frontline newsreels.

To carry out a terrorist attack, the militants considered several objects, which could be attended by as many citizens as possible. The choice was from three goals - the Moscow State Variety Theater, the Youth Palace and the Theater Center on Dubrovka. To do this, several female terrorists moved around the city and took photographs of selected objects.

As a result, the criminals chose the theater on Dubrovka because of the large auditorium capacity and a small number of utility rooms.

And already at the beginning of October, preparations began for the seizure of the building. Weapons and explosives were delivered from Chechnya to Moscow by light vehicles. Militants also arrived in small groups. Housing was selected in different parts of the city, in rented apartments.

The chronicle of the events that took place during the demonstration of the musical performance "Nord-Ost" is reproduced by the documentary "Moscow Siege" both from the words of eyewitnesses and from the stories of the participants in the events themselves.

The size of the group was approximately 40 people. In addition, half of them were female suicide bombers. Armed men in camouflage uniforms arrived at the building of the Theater Center in three minibuses. At 21.15, the seizure of the shopping center began, where the performance was going on at that time. The hostages were 916 people - spectators and theater actors.

Nobody took the first shots in the audience seriously. The shots rang out loudly, but everyone wondered what would happen next, since no one believed in the seriousness of the situation during the performance ("Nord-Ost") that this was possible at all.

Women suicide bombers

But the bandits arrived, filling the hall, and the suicide girls showed up. But at that moment they were not wearing suicide bomber belts - they were put on later.

Unlike the men, who looked to be 20-30 years old, the suicide bombers were clearly young. Sixteen - twenty years. They all had explosive belts, grenades and pistols.

Moreover, it was immediately evident that the female suicide bombers clearly did not understand weapons. The young invaders of the spectators of the "Nord-Ost" show had a very distant idea of ​​what a pistol was. And therefore, the skills of using weapons were taught right on the spot.

Talks with terrorists, how it happened

The fact that the terrorist attack was carefully thought out is evidenced by the fact that on October 24, 2002, at 7 o'clock in the evening, the Al-Jazeera TV channel broadcasts a pre-prepared appeal from the head of the militants Movsar Barayev, in which he announced the entire group of suicide bombers and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Chechnya. Otherwise, viewers of the performance "Nord-Ost" will experience what death means.

At 5.30 a young woman Olga Romanova, a saleswoman in a perfumery shopping center, freely enters the building, and at 8.15 a lieutenant colonel. But the terrorists did not believe the negotiators and both were shot.

After a representative of the State Duma from Chechnya entered the negotiations, the negotiations took an active phase, and in their course several dozen hostages were released.

Russian politicians also took an active part in the negotiations. Journalists, the ex - President of Ingushetia, took part in the negotiation process.

Special forces assault

However, all efforts made to free all the hostages were unsuccessful. The militants began to behave extremely aggressively and kill people.

To prevent mass casualties, a special operation was launched by the FSB special task force, which carefully examined the theater where the musical "Nord-Ost" was being held, what the building is as a whole and the plan of individual rooms.

On October 26, 2002, at 5.30 am near the shopping center, three explosions and automatic fires thundered, and at 6.00 the special forces launched an assault. To prevent the explosions, the FSB group used military nerve gas.

Sad results of victory

At approximately 8 o'clock in the morning, the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs V. Vasiliev reported the results of the operation:

• killed - 36 bandits;
• released - over 750 hostages;
• killed - 67 people.

What are the results of the operation to free the viewers of the show "Nord-Ost", the film shows with merciless precision. Several dozen more people died in hospitals over the course of several days. So the number of victims increased to 130 people (10 of them were children).

Among those killed there were more than twenty people who worked in the theater.

Now in front of the Dubrovka Theater there is a memorial "In memory of the victims of terrorism", opened on October 23, 2003.

Terrorist act on Dubrovka, also referred to simply as "Nord-Ost"(October 23-22, 2002) - a terrorist action in Moscow, during which a group of armed militants led by Movsar Barayev took hostage the audience of the musical "Nord-Ost" in the building of the House of Culture of the JSC "Moscow Bearing".

The militants were armed with firearms, ammunition and explosive devices. The total number of people they took hostage is 916 people. The purpose of the terrorist act was to violate public safety, intimidate the population and exert pressure on the authorities of the Russian Federation to decide on the withdrawal of troops from the territory of the Chechen Republic.

As a result of the operation to free the hostages, all terrorists were eliminated and most of the hostages were freed. In total, according to official figures, 130 people were killed.

For the execution of the terrorist attack, 21 men and about 20 women were selected. The suicide bombers were between 16 and 42 years old, but most of them were between 20 and 23 years old.

Wednesday, October 23, 2002, at 21:05 Moscow time to the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka at the address: three minibuses, from which armed men in camouflage jumped out and ran into the building of the Palace of Culture. Disarming 4-5 guards armed with stun guns and gas pistols, the main part of the group burst into the concert hall, where at that time the first scene of the second act of the musical was ending and there were more than 800 people.

On the stage, where at that time there were eight artists dressed in military flight uniforms of the 1940s, a man armed with a machine gun came out and ordered the actors to go down from the stage to the hall. In confirmation of the seriousness of his words, he fired several shots upward. The terrorists declared all people - spectators and theater workers - hostages, but did not put forward their demands. They scattered across the hall and began to mine it.

22:00 - Reinforced police detachments are coming to the building of the center on Dubrovka. Information is received that the theater building was seized by a detachment of Chechen militants led by Movsar Barayev, and there are women among the terrorists.

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

23:30 - Military equipment is being pulled up to the building, at this time 7 members of the technical group of the musical manage to escape from it, who managed to close themselves in the editing room.

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

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

03:50 - Terrorists release two school-age children.

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

08:00 - As of 8:00, the terrorists released 41 people.

18:31 - During a trip to the toilet, two girls - Elena Zinovyeva 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 a grenade launcher, lightly wounding Major Konstantin Zhuravlev, a fighter of the Alpha group, who was covering the girls.

19:00 - The Qatar TV channel shows an appeal by the militant Movsar Barayev, recorded a few days before the seizure of the Palace of Culture. In the video shown, Movsar Barayev, sitting in front of a laptop in his apartment, declares that his group belongs to the “sabotage and reconnaissance brigade of righteous martyrs” and is demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. The video also shows five women dressed in black abaya capes and a veil.

21:30 - According to updated data, 39 people have been released since the terrorists took hostages.

01:30 - Leonid Roshal enters the building, carrying two boxes of medicines (for the balcony and the parterre) and a bag with hygiene products, which the terrorists allowed to bring for the hostages. NTV correspondent Sergei Dedukh and cameraman Anton Peredelsky enter the building with him. They stay 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 are taking out eight children from 6 to 12 years old from a building seized by terrorists.

00:30—02:00 - One of the hostages goes into hysterics and throws a bottle at 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 (in the stomach) and Pavel Zakharov (in the head). The terrorists allow the wounded hostages to be carried to the first floor and call the ambulance staff to the building, who take the wounded to the hospital. Pavel Zakharov later died in hospital.

Storm

At dawn at about 5:00 am Moscow time, the floodlights that illuminated the main entrance to the theater went out. Those who precipitated through the ventilation began to pump sleep gas into the building. The people inside the building - militants and hostages - initially mistook the gas for smoke from a fire, but soon realized that it was not.

5.30 ... Three explosions and several automatic rounds are heard near the building of the Palace of Culture. After that, the shooting stops. Unconfirmed information is received about the beginning of the operation to storm the building.

5.45 ... Headquarters officials say that in the past two hours the terrorists have killed two and wounded two more hostages.

6.20 ... Several more explosions are heard, and shooting resumes. The building of the Palace of Culture was successfully abandoned by two hostages.

6.30 ... FSB spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko reports that the Theater Center is under the control of the special services, Movsar Barayev and most of the terrorists have been destroyed.

6.30—6.45 ... Dozens of Emergency Situations Ministry and ambulance cars and buses drive up to the building of the Palace of Culture.

6.45—7.00 ... Rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and doctors begin to take the hostages out of the building, provide medical assistance and hospitalization.

8.00 ... Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasiliev reports on the destruction of 36 terrorists, the release of more than 750 hostages and the recovery of 67 bodies of the dead. Unconscious people are placed on buses. The producer of Nord-Ost, Alexander Tsekalo, states that the hostages are simply tired, and the terrorists are sleeping forever. The operation to free the hostages abroad is called brilliant.