| Revision as of 00:29, 19 February 2009 editIlgiz (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,738 editsm Use the word "however" sparingly as it implies the editor's preference for the following version. Add a reference to the official denial of using real explosives in the Ryazan "training excercise".← Previous edit | Revision as of 02:17, 19 February 2009 edit undoHodja Nasreddin (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers31,217 edits rv. I am sorry, but the entire Ryzan incident was removedNext edit → | ||
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| The '''Russian apartment bombings''' were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the ]n cities of ], ] and ] in September 1999, killing nearly 300 people and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings were blamed by the ] on |
The '''Russian apartment bombings''' were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the ]n cities of ], ] and ] in September 1999, killing nearly 300 people and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings were blamed by the ] on ] and together with the ], a ], that took place in August 1999, lead to the military invasion of the separatist ], which started on September 30 and escalated the ]. The Chechen militants and secessionist authorities, however, have denied their involvement in the bombing campaign <ref>, '']'', Jul 6, 2003 </ref> as well as the ]<ref>http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2794465</ref>. | ||
| The blasts hit Buynaksk on September 4, Moscow on September 9 and 13, and Volgodonsk on September 16. Several other bombs were defused in Moscow on September 13. A similar bomb was found and defused in the Russian city of ] on September 23. |
The blasts hit Buynaksk on September 4, Moscow on September 9 and 13, and Volgodonsk on September 16. Several other bombs were defused in Moscow on September 13. A similar bomb was found and defused in the Russian city of ] on September 23. The (then) Russian Prime Minister ] praised the vigilance of the Ryazanians and ordered air attacks on Grozny. The local police caught two ] (FSB) agents who planted the bomb in Ryazan shortly afterwards. On September 24 FSB Director ] announced that the Ryazan incident had been a training exercise. | ||
| An official ] investigation of the bombings was completed in 2002 and |
An official ] investigation of the bombings was completed in 2002 and concluded that they were organized by ], who remains at large, and ordered by Islamist warlords ] and ], who have been killed. Six other suspects have been convicted by Russian courts. However, many observers, including ] deputies ], ] and ], cast doubts on the official version and sought an independent investigation. Some historians and independent journalists, including ], ], ], ]), as well as the Chechen president ], claimed that the bombings were a ] attack coordinated by the FSB in order to win public support for a new full-scale war in Chechnya, which boosted Prime Minister and former FSB Director ]'s popularity, brought the pro-war ] to the ] and him to the presidency within a few months.<ref name=RationaleList> | ||
| ''David Satter. ''Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State''. Yale University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09892-8, pages 24-33 and 63-71. | ''David Satter. ''Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State''. Yale University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09892-8, pages 24-33 and 63-71. | ||
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| ''The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union?'', p.81, Matthew Evangelista, pub. Brookings Institution Press, 2002, ISBN 0815724993, ISBN 9780815724995 | ''The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union?'', p.81, Matthew Evangelista, pub. Brookings Institution Press, 2002, ISBN 0815724993, ISBN 9780815724995 | ||
| , Jamie Dettmer, ], April 17, 2000.</ref> | |||
| , Jamie Dettmer, ], April 17, 2000.</ref> Researchers such as ], Dr. ], Dr. ] and Professor ] have criticized these claims, puttin them down as ].<ref name="sakwa2"/><ref name="bennett"/> Other writers, politicians and opposition members{{who}} do not exclude FSB involvement, believing that the allegations remain credible.<ref>’’The consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia’’ by ], ], ] p.96</ref><ref> http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=f4f5cf0c-9104-4b3f-8ebe-84f3dc24c51b&Region_id=&Issue_id=9a9181ea-b7c5-4e6a-845f-5824c7b23939</ref><ref name="monaghan"></ref> | |||
| ==Background== | |||
| On August 7, 1999 Chechen warlord ] and arab warlord ] launched an ] from Chechnya, in support of the ] ] rebels.<ref name="souleimanov"></ref><ref name="outsourced_jihad"></ref> However, the Dagestani security forces repelled their attack, and in two weeks the invaders were driven out.<ref name="souleimanov"/> | |||
| A journalist who in mid-August 1999 travelled to the village of ] in ], interviewed some villagers and their military Commander General Dzherollak. The journalist wrote: "The ]' trucks go all over Russia. Even one wrong move in Moscow or Makhachkala, they warn, will lead to bombs and bloodshed everywhere." According to the journalist the Wahhabis had told him, "if they start bombing us, we know where our bombs will explode."<ref name="tragedyofrussiasreforms">{{cite book |title=The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms: Market Bolshevism Against Democracy |last=Reddaway |first=Peter |authorlink=] |coauthors=Dmitri Glinski |year=2001 |publisher=United States Institute of Peace Press |location= |isbn=1-929223-06-4 |pages=615-616 }}</ref> In the last days of August, Russian military launched an aerial bombing of the villages.<ref name="tragedyofrussiasreforms"/> | |||
| ==The bombings== | ==The bombings== | ||
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| ===Moscow mall=== | ===Moscow mall=== | ||
| On |
On August 31, at 20:00 local time a powerful explosion took place in a busy Moscow shopping center.<ref name="bbc_aug31"></ref> One person was killed and 40 others injured.<ref name="Satter"/> According to FSB, the explosion had been caused by a bomb of about 300g of explosives.<ref name="bbc_aug31"/> | ||
| On ], Al-Khattab announced: "The mujahideen of Dagestan are going to carry out reprisals in various places across Russia."<ref>http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=iseees/bps </ref>, but Khattab would later on ] deny responsibility in the blasts, adding that he is fighting the Russian army, not women and children.<ref>http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1141992.html </ref> | |||
| ===Buynaksk, Dagestan=== | ===Buynaksk, Dagestan=== | ||
| On ], ], at 22:00 (18:00 GMT), a ] detonated outside a five story apartment building in the city of ] in ], near the border of Chechnya. The building was housing Russian ] soldiers and their families. 64 people were killed and 133 were injured in the explosion.<ref name="Dissident"/><ref name="nyt_6conv"></ref |
On ], ], at 22:00 (18:00 GMT), a ] detonated outside a five story apartment building in the city of ] in ], near the border of Chechnya. The building was housing Russian ] soldiers and their families. 64 people were killed and 133 were injured in the explosion.<ref name="Dissident"/><ref name="nyt_6conv"></ref> Another carbomb was found and defused in another part of the town.<ref name="bbc_sep5"/> According to a book by Yuri Felshtinsky, a friend of Alexander Litvinenko,<ref></ref> the defused bomb was in a car containing 2,706 kilograms of explosives and was found in a parking lot surrounded by an army hospital and residential buildings, and it was discovered by local residents.<ref name=autogenerated6>] and ] ''The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin'', Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6, pages 105-111. The interview was given on 14 January, 2000 </ref> Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Kolesnikov suspected, that the explosion was linked with the earlier invasion of militants from Chechnya to Dagestan.<ref name="bbc_sep5"/> | ||
| The town had been used as a Garrison town for Russian troops sent in to crush the separatist Islamic rebellion.<ref name="bbc_sep5"></ref> | The town had been used as a Garrison town for Russian troops sent in to crush the separatist Islamic rebellion.<ref name="bbc_sep5"></ref> | ||
| On 5 September, the militant forces of Basayev and Al-Khattab launched a second invasion into Dagestan, this time with a larger force.<ref>{{cite book |title=Putin, Russia's choice |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |authorlink=] |coauthors= |year=2008 |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-40765-6 |page=21 }}</ref> | |||
| ===Moscow, Pechatniki=== | ===Moscow, Pechatniki=== | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| On ], ], shortly after midnight local time, at 20:00 GMT,<ref name="bbc_sep9"></ref> 300 to 400 |
On ], shortly after midnight local time, at 20:00 GMT,<ref name="bbc_sep9"></ref> 300 to 400 kg of explosives detonated on the ground floor of an apartment building in south-east Moscow (19 Guryanova Street). The nine-story building was destroyed, killing 94 people inside and injuring 249 others. 15 nearby buildings were also damaged.<ref name="bbc_sep9"/> A total of 108 apartments were destroyed during the bombing. An FSB spokesman identified the explosive as ].<ref name="Satter"/> The ], ] ordered the search of 30,000 residential buildings in Moscow for explosives.<ref> ''Darkness at Dawn'', page 65</ref> Yeltsin took personal control of the investigation of the blast.<ref name="chronology"></ref>. Vladimir Putin declared September 13 a day of mourning for the victims of the attacks.<ref name="bbc_sep9"/> | ||
| On the same day, anonymous person speaking with a ] accent called the ] news agency, saying that the blasts in Moscow and Buynaksk were "our response to the bombings of civilians in the villages in Chechnya and Dagestan."<ref name="chronology"></ref><ref></ref> In an interview to the Czech newspaper ] on September 9, Shamil Basayev denied responsibility saying: "The latest blast in Moscow is not our work, but the work of the Dagestanis. Russia has been openly terrorizing Dagestan, it encircled three villages in the centre of Dagestan, did not allow women and children to leave."<ref name="bbc_who"/> A few days later Basayev denied that islamist fighters were responsible for the blasts, and instead were connected to "Russian domestic politics."<ref>=23907&tx_ttnews=216 AUTUMN 1999 TERRORIST BOMBINGS HAVE A MURKY HISTORY]</ref> In a later interview Basayev said he had no idea who was behind the bombings. "Dagestani’s could have done it, or the Russian special services."<ref></ref> | |||
| Vladimir Putin declared September 13 a day of mourning for the victims of the attacks.<ref name="bbc_sep9"/> | |||
| ===Moscow, Kashirskoye highway=== | ===Moscow, Kashirskoye highway=== | ||
| On ], ], at 5:00 a.m., a large bomb exploded at 5:00 a.m. in a basement of an apartment block on Kashirskoye Highway in southern Moscow, about 6 |
On ], ], at 5:00 a.m., a large bomb exploded at 5:00 a.m. in a basement of an apartment block on Kashirskoye Highway in southern Moscow, about 6 km from the place of the last attack. The eight-story building was flattened, littering the street with debris and throwing some concrete pieces hundreds of yards away. In all, 118 people died and 200 were injured.<ref name="Dissident"/><ref name="bbc_sep13"></ref> According to American journalist ], the basement of the destroyed building was checked by police three hours prior to the blast.<ref name="Satter"/> | ||
| ===Moscow, attempted bombings=== | ===Moscow, attempted bombings=== | ||
| On ], ], a bomb was defused in a building in the Kapotnya area. A warehouse containing several tons of explosives and six timing devices was found at Borisov Ponds. How these sites were discovered has never officially been announced<ref> ''Death of a Dissident'', page 264 </ref>. |
On ], a bomb was defused in a building in the Kapotnya area. A warehouse containing several tons of explosives and six timing devices was found at Borisov Ponds. How these sites were discovered has never officially been announced<ref> ''Death of a Dissident'', page 264 </ref>. | ||
| A ] businessman ], who was later declared a key suspect by FSB<ref name="bbc_fsbpic"></ref>, called the police and warned about the bombing locations, which helped to prevent a large number of further casualties. Gochiyaev claimed that he was framed by his old acquaintance, an FSB officer<ref></ref> who asked him to rent basements "as storage facilities" at four locations where bombs were later found. When the first two bombs went off, Gochiyaev says, he realized that he had been framed and called the police to warn about the bombing.<ref name="Prima"> by ], July 25, 2002</ref> FSB later published pictures which showed him together with Khattab to prove that two men had close links.<ref name="bbc_fsbpic"/>. Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko asked British forensics expert Geoffrey Oxlee to examine the digitized photos. According to Oxlee, "the images were of poor quality and had been exposed to digital processing", but didn't say that they were faked, but that the photographic evidence was "inconclusive".<ref>, by Andrew McGregor,].</ref> | |||
| On September 15, an unidentified man, again speaking with a Caucasian accent, called the ] news agency, claiming to represent a group called the ]. He said, that the explosions in Buynaksk and Moscow were carried out by his organization.<ref name="chronology"/> According to him the attacks were a retaliation to the deaths of muslim women and children during Russian air raids in Dagestan. "We will answer death with death," the caller said..<ref name="independent_webofterror"></ref> Russian officials from both the ] and ] at the time expressed skepticism over the claims.<ref>http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews=23907&tx_ttnews=216</ref> ] of the FSB press service in Moscow said that the words of a previously unknown individual representing a semimythical organization should not be considered as reliable. Bogdanov insisted that the organization had nothing to do with the bombing.<ref>’’Islam in Russia’’ by Shireen Hunter, Jeffrey L. Thomas, Alexander Melikishvili, J. Collins. P.91</ref> On September 15, 1999 a Dagestani official also denied the existence of a "Dagestan Liberation Army".<ref></ref> | |||
| Vladimir Putin stated, that the people responsible for the bombings in Moscow are hiding on Chechen territory.<ref name="chronology"/> 27 terrorist suspects had been arrested in Moscow over the period of 9-14 September.<ref name="chronology"/> | |||
| On September 15 Greg Myre, an AP reporter, quoted Al-Khattab as saying, "From now on, we will not only fight against Russian fighter jets and tanks. From now on, they will get our bombs everywhere. Let Russia await our explosions blasting through their cities. I swear we will do it..<ref name="from_past_to_future">{{cite book |title=Checnya: From Past to Future |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |authorlink= |year=2005 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=9781843311645 |url= }} </ref> However, in a subsequent interview with Interfax, al-Khattab denied involvement in the bombings, saying "We would not like to be akin to those who kill sleeping civilians with bombs and shells."<ref name="from_past_to_future"/><ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n4UNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hW8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6629,3906735&dq=let-russia-await-our-explosions-blasting-through-their-cities</ref> | |||
| Vladimir Putin claimed, that the people responsible for the bombings in Moscow are hiding on Chechen territory.<ref name="chronology"/> 27 terrorist suspects had been arrested in Moscow over the period of 9-14 September.<ref name="chronology"/> Boris Yeltsin warned, that the explosions could have been caused by forces hoping to destabilise the government by causing inter-ethnic tensions. "One must not shift the problem onto an ethnic or religious basis. It is impermissible to carry out purges along ethnic lines," he said.<ref name="bbc_thelikelysuspects"></ref> | |||
| ===Volgodonsk=== | ===Volgodonsk=== | ||
| A truck bomb exploded on ], ], outside a nine-story apartment complex in the southern Russian city of ], killing 17 people and injuring 69.<ref name="Satter"/> The bombing took place at 5:57 am.<ref name="nyt_another"></ref> Surrounding buildings were also damaged. The blast also happened nine miles from a nuclear power plant.<ref name="nyt_another"/> Prime Minister Putin signed a decree calling on law enforcement and other agencies to develop plans within three days to protect industry, transportation, communications, food processing centers and nuclear complexes.<ref name="nyt_another"/> | A truck bomb exploded on ], ], outside a nine-story apartment complex in the southern Russian city of ], killing 17 people and injuring 69.<ref name="Satter"/> The bombing took place at 5:57 am.<ref name="nyt_another"></ref> Surrounding buildings were also damaged. The blast also happened nine miles from a nuclear power plant.<ref name="nyt_another"/> Prime Minister Putin signed a decree calling on law enforcement and other agencies to develop plans within three days to protect industry, transportation, communications, food processing centers and nuclear complexes.<ref name="nyt_another"/> | ||
| ===Ryazan incident=== | |||
| The New York Times speculated, that terrorists were responding to the increased security measures in the capital by taking their campaign to less protected towns and cities.<ref name="nyt_another"/> | |||
| On the evening of ], ], a resident of an apartment building in the city of ] noticed two suspicious men who carried sacks into the basement from a car with a Moscow license plate.<ref name="Assassins">''The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin'', ] and ], Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6; pages 105-111.</ref> He alerted the police, but by the time they arrived the car and the men were gone. The policemen found three 50kg sacks of white powder in the basement. A ] and a ] were attached and armed. The timer was set to 5:30 AM.<ref name="Dissident"/> Yuri Tkachenko, the head of the local ], disconnected the detonator and the timer and tested the three sacks of white substance with a "MO-2" ]. The device detected traces of ], the ] used in all previous bombings.<ref name="Satter"/> Police and rescue vehicles converged from different parts of the city, and 30,000 residents were evacuated from the area. 1,200 local police officers armed with automatic weapons set up ]s on highways around the city and started patrolling railroad stations and airports to hunt the terrorists down. In the morning, "Ryazan resembled a city under siege".<ref name="Satter"/> ]es of two men and a woman terrorist suspects were shown on TV. In the morning of ] Russian television networks reported the attempt to blow up a building in Ryazan using hexogen.<ref name="ort">{{ru icon}} ] newscast on 23.09.99, at 09:00]</ref> Minister of ] ] announced that police prevented a terrorist act. Later in the evening, ] ] praised the vigilance of the Ryazanians and called for the air bombing of the Chechen capital ].<ref>"]", page 196</ref> In the evening of September 23, the perpetrators were caught. A telephone service employee tapped into long distance phone conversations and managed to detect a talk in which an out-of-town person suggested to others that they "split up" and "make your own way out". That person's number was traced to a ] serving FSB offices.<ref>, ], January 27, 2000</ref> When arrested, the detainees produced FSB identification cards. They were soon released on orders from Moscow.<ref name=shadow>, ], April 30, 2002</ref> | |||
| The next morning, FSB director ] declared that the incident was a training exercise.<ref>Williams, Bryan Glyn (2001). . '']'' 8.1.</ref> FSB issued a public apology and said that the explosives were dummies used in the exercise.<ref name="nyt_ber"></ref> On ] ], two days before the ], ] featured the Ryazan events of fall 1999 on the talk show ''Independent Investigation''. The talk with the residents of the Ryazan apartment building along with FSB members Alexander Zdanovich and General Sergeyev was filmed earlier on March 20, 2000. The FSB members refused to provide the name of the head of the training exercise, if there was any. On March 26 ] voiced his concern over the possible shut-down of NTV for airing the talk.<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], ], '']'', August 27, 2001</ref> NTV general manager ] spoke at the ] on the day the show aired and said that Information Minister ] warned him on several occasions. Malashenko's recollection of Lesin's warning was that by airing the talk show NTV "crossed the line and that we were outlaws in their eyes."<ref>, Miriam Lanskoy, 8 November 2000, ], Issue 4630</ref> According to ], Malashenko told him that ] brought a warning from the Kremlin one day before airing the show. The warning in no uncertain terms said that NTV "should consider themselves finished" if they would go ahead with the broadcast.<ref> "]", page 198</ref> | |||
| ], a Caucasus expert for the newspaper ], at that time said that he had been received a note from an informant that 10 attacks were planned in Moscow, ] and in the ] area, where Volgodonsk is situated.<ref name="nyt_another"/> According to Izmailov the informant indicated, that the explosions had been organized by two leaders of the Islamic insurgency in Dagestan, Shamil Basayev and ]. But he said the attacks were being carried out by Slavic ] as well as Chechens, making it difficult to identify the terrorists.<ref name="nyt_another"/> | |||
| ===Explosives controversies=== | |||
| ] said that he believed that the blasts had been organized by Chechen militants, but he added that Russia's leading politicians were to blame because they had failed to come up with a political plan for restoring Chechnya or a military plan to contain the rebels.<ref name="nyt_another"/> | |||
| It was initially reported by the FSB that the explosives used by the terrorists was ] (or "hexogen"). However, it was officially declared later that the explosive was not RDX, but a mixture of aluminum powder, ] (saltpeter), ], and ] prepared by the perpetrators in a ] at a fertilizer factory in ], Chechnya.<ref name="Kommersant2004-01-13">{{ru icon}} , '']'', January 13, 2004. (Russian:"в бетономешалке изготовила смесь из сахара, селитры и алюминиевой пудры"</ref><ref name="Kommersant2002-12-10"/> RDX is produced in only one{{Fact|date=August 2008}} factory in Russia, in the city of ],<ref name="Satter"/> although it might be also smuggled from suppliers outside of Russia<ref></ref> or stolen from munition storage facilities.<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], 19.07.2003</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} </ref><ref>{{ru icon}} , ], March 5 2002</ref> According to the book by Satter, the FSB changed the story about the type of explosive, since it was difficult to explain how huge{{Fact|date=August 2008}} amounts of RDX disappeared from the closely guarded Perm facility. ], is, however, a widely used military and industrial explosive, which has been manufactured by many countries, and Satter's claims regarding restricted access to ] have been dismissed by a former Russian government official Dzhabrail Gakayev as ] ''was, and still is, readily available in ]<ref>p.95, ''Chechnya: From Past To Future'', Richard Sakwa, pub. Anthem Press, 2005, | |||
| ISBN 184331164X, 9781843311645</ref>'' <ref></ref> | |||
| Another controversy was related to the type of explosives that were used by FSB agents in Ryazan. The Russian Deputy Prosecutor declared in 2002 that a comprehensive testing of the samples showed no traces of any explosives, and that sacks from Ryazan in fact contained only ].<ref name=kolmogorov></ref> However Yuri Tkachenko, the police explosives expert who defused the Ryazan bomb, insisted that it was real. Tkachenko said that the explosives, including a timer, a power source, and a detonator were genuine military equipment and obviously prepared by a professional. He also said that the gas analyzer that tested the vapors coming from the sacks unmistakably indicated the presence of RDX. Tkachenko said that it was out of the question that the analyzer could have malfunctioned, as the gas analyzer was of world class quality, costing $20,000 and was maintained by a specialist who worked according to a strict schedule, checking the analyzer after each use and making frequent prophylactic checks. Tkachenko pointed out that meticulous care in the handling of the gas analyzer was a necessity because the lives of the bomb squad experts depended on the reliability of their equipment. The police officers who answered the original call and discovered the bomb also insisted that it was obvious from its appearance that the substance in the bomb was not sugar.<ref name="Satter"/><ref name="NationalReview">, ], ], ], ].</ref> | |||
| ===Ryazan incident=== | |||
| On the night of September 22-23, another bomb was found in an apartment building in Ryazan.<ref name="sakwa2"/> However, according to a senior Russian security official, the "bomb" was a dummy device placed there as part of a security exercise.<ref name="bbc_ryazan"></ref> According to the head of FSB ], the exercise was carried out to test responses after the earlier blasts. Mr Patrushev said similar exercises were being conducted in other Russian cities.<ref name="bbc_ryazan"/> FSB issued a public apology about the incident.<ref name="nyt_ber"></ref> | |||
| In March 2000, Russian newspaper ''] ''reported about a Private Alexei Pinyaev of the 137th Regiment who guarded a military facility near the city of Ryazan. He was surprised to see that "a storehouse with weapons and ammunition" contained sacks with the word "sugar" on them. The two paratroopers cut a hole in one of the bags and made a tea with the sugar taken from the bag. But the taste of tea was terrible. They became suspicious since people were talking about the explosions. The substance turned out to be the hexogen. After the newspaper report, FSB officers "descended on Pinyaev's unit", accused them of "divulging a state secret", and told them "You guys can't even imagine what serious business you've got yourselves tangled up in." The regiment later sued ''Novaya Gazeta'' for insulting the honor of the Russian Army, since there was no Private Alexei Pinyaev in the regiment, according to their statement.<ref> "The Age of Assassins", pages 127-129</ref> After Russian troops entered Chechnya in October 1999, military officials said they had discovered a laboratory in the town of ], along with a large stockpile of explosive materials and training literature that they said appeared to be connected to several of the apartment building explosions.<ref name="nyt_6conv"/> | |||
| ==Official investigation and court ruling== | |||
| The official investigation was concluded in 2002. According to the Russian State Prosecutor office,<ref name="Kommersant2002-12-10">, '']'', December 10, 2002.</ref><ref name=off>{{ru icon}} . The answer of the Russian state Prosecutor office to the inquiry of ] member A. Kulikov, circa March 2002. </ref> all apartment bombings were executed under command of ethnic Karachay Achemez Gochiyayev. The operations were planned by ] and ], Arab militants fighting in Chechnya on the side of Chechen insurgents. Both Russia and USA accuse of Al-Khattab of having direct links with ],<ref name="bbc_khattabdeath"></ref>, though Khattab himself has always dennied this.<ref>http://www.religioscope.info/article_88.shtml</ref><ref>http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=640#4</ref> Al-Khattab and al-Saif were later killed during the ]. The planning was carried out in Khattab's guerilla camps in Chechnya, "Caucasus" in ] and "Taliban" in ], according to the prosecution.<ref name=off/> Gochiyaev's group was trained at Chechen rebel bases in the towns of Serzhen-Yurt and Urus-Martan. The group's "technical instructors" were two Arab field commanders, Abu Umar and Abu Djafar, Al-Khattab was the bombings' brainchild.<ref name="ipr"> IPR Strategic Business Information Database. 2004-01-13</ref> The explosives were prepared at a fertilizer factory in ] Chechnya, by "mixing aluminium powder, nitre and sugar in a concrete mixer",<ref name=autogenerated12>, '']'', January 13, 2004. (Russian:"в бетономешалке изготовила смесь из сахара, селитры и алюминиевой пудры"</ref> or by also putting their RDX and TNT.<ref name="Kommersant2002-12-10"/> From there they were sent to a food storage facility in ], which was managed by an uncle of one of the terrorists, ]. Another conspirator, ], leased a ] truck in which the sacks were stored for two months. After everything was planned, the participants were organized into several groups which then transported the explosives to different cities. | |||
| ==Other incidents== | |||
| ===Incident in Russian Parliament=== | |||
| On ], just hours after the second explosion in Moscow, Russian Duma speaker ] of the Communist Party made a surprising announcement: "''I have just received a report. According to information from Rostov-on-Don, an apartment building in the city of ] was blown up last night''".<ref name=autogenerated5> "Death of a Dissident", page 265 </ref><ref name="Jamestown">, ], June 12, 2003</ref><ref name="CDI"></ref><ref>{{ru icon}} , ], 21 March 2002</ref> However the bombing in Volgodonsk took place only three days later, on ]. When the Volgodonsk bombing happened, ] demanded an explanation in Duma, but Seleznev turned his microphone off.<ref name=autogenerated5 /><ref> ] said in Russian Duma: "Remember Gennadiy Nikolaevich how you told us that a house has been blown up in Volgodonsk, three days prior to the blast? How should we interpret this? The State Duma knows that the house was destroyed on Monday, and it has indeed been blown up on Thursday ... How come... the state authorities of Rostov region were not warned in advance , although it was reported to us? Everyone is sleeping, the house was destroyed three days later, and now we must take urgent measures..." .</ref> Two years later, in March 2002, Seleznyov claimed in an interview that he had been referring to an unrelated ]-based explosion, which did not kill anyone and did not destroy any buildings, and which indeed happened in Volgodonsk.<ref name="Seleznev"> "Darkness at Dawn", page 269.</ref><ref name="terror99-2">{{ru icon}} </ref> It remains unclear why Seleznyov reported such an insignificant incident to the Russian Parliament and why he did not explain the misunderstanding to Zhirinovsky and other Duma members.<ref name="Seleznev"/> Former FSB spy and Kremlin-critic ] described this as a "the usual ] mess up": ''"Moscow-2 was on the 13th and Volgodonsk on 16th, but they got it to the speaker the other way around,"'' he said. Investigator ] confirmed that the man who gave Seleznev the note was indeed an FSB officer.<ref> "Death of a Dissident", page 266 </ref> | |||
| ===Publications about advanced planning of the bombings=== | |||
| On ] ], three months before the bombings, Swedish journalist Jan Blomgren wrote in newspaper '']'' that one of options considered by the Kremlin leaders was "a series of terror bombings in Moscow that could be blamed on the Chechens."<ref name="Advance"> "Darkness at Dawn", page 267 </ref> On ], Moscow newspaper ''Moskovskaya Pravda'' published leaked documents about an operation "Storm in Moscow", which by organizing terrorist acts to cause chaos would bring about a state of emergency, thus saving the Yeltsin regime.<ref> "Darkness at Dawn", page 63 </ref> Russian Duma member Konstantin Borovoi said that he had been "warned by an agent of Russian military intelligence of a wave of terrorist bombings" prior to the blasts.<ref name="Advance"/> | |||
| ==Official FSB investigation== | |||
| Just a few days after the bombings, on ], the head of Moscow FSB ] announced that all Chechen perpetrators had been already apprehended. However, the people mentioned by Tsarenko turned out to be not Chechens but from ] and were later released as not having any relation to the explosions.<ref> The Age of Assassins, page 109</ref> | |||
| The official investigation was concluded in 2002. According to the Russian State Prosecutor office,<ref name="Kommersant2002-12-10">, '']'', December 10, 2002.</ref><ref name=off>{{ru icon}} . The answer of the Russian state Prosecutor office to the inquiry of ] member A. Kulikov, circa March 2002. </ref> all apartment bombings were executed under command of ethnic Karachay Achemez Gochiyayev. The operations were planned by ] and ], Arab militants fighting in Chechnya on the side of Chechen insurgents. Both Russia and USA accuse of Al-Khattab of having direct links with ].<ref name="bbc_khattabdeath"></ref> Gochiyayev received $500,000 from Al-Khattab to carry out the attacks.<ref name="bbc_fsb"></ref>. Al-Khattab and al-Saif were later killed during the ]. The planning was carried out in Khattab's guerilla camps in Chechnya, "Caucasus" in ] and "Taliban" in ], according to the prosecution.<ref name=off/> Gochiyaev's group was trained at Chechen rebel bases in the towns of Serzhen-Yurt and Urus-Martan. The group's "technical instructors" were two Arab field commanders, Abu Umar and Abu Djafar, Al-Khattab was the bombings' brainchild.<ref name="ipr"> IPR Strategic Business Information Database. 2004-01-13</ref> | |||
| The explosives were prepared at a fertilizer factory in ] Chechnya, by "mixing aluminium powder, nitre and sugar in a concrete mixer",<ref name=autogenerated12>, '']'', January 13, 2004. (Russian:"в бетономешалке изготовила смесь из сахара, селитры и алюминиевой пудры"</ref> or by also putting their RDX and TNT.<ref name="Kommersant2002-12-10"/> From there they were sent to a food storage facility in ], which was managed by an uncle of one of the terrorists, ]. Another conspirator, ], leased a ] truck in which the sacks were stored for two months. After everything was planned, the participants were organized into several groups which then transported the explosives to different cities. Most of the people participating were not ethnic Chechens. | |||
| Batchayev and Krymshakhalov admitted transporting a truckload of explosives to Moscow but said "they have never been in touch with Chechen warlords and did not know Gochiyaev".<ref name="Dissident"/> They said that someone "who posed as a jihad leader had duped them into the operation" by hiring them to transport his explosives, and they later realized this man was working for the FSB.<ref name="Dissident"/> They claimed that bombings were directed by ] who supervised the FSB ] and ] special forces units at that time.<ref>, '']'', 09.12.2002</ref> | |||
| ====Moscow==== | |||
| Al-Khattab paid Gochiyayev $500,000 to carry out the attacks at Guryanova Street, Kashirskoye Skosse and Borsovskiye Prudy, and then helped to hide Gochiyayev and his accomplices in Chechnya.<ref name="wolvesofislam"/><ref name="bbc_fsb"></ref> In early ], ], Magayayev, Krymshamkhalov, Batchayev and Dekkushev reloaded the cargo into a ] trailer and delivered it to Moscow. En route, they were protected from possible complications by an accomplice called Khakim, who accompanied the trailer in another car. In Moscow they were met by ], who registered in ] under the fake name "Laipanov", and Denis Saitakov. The explosive was left in a ] in Ulitsa Krasnodonskaya, which was leased by pseudo-Laipanov (Gochiayev.) The next day hexogen was delivered in Gazelle vans to three addresses – Ulitsa Guryanova, Kashirskoye Shosse and Ulitsa Borisovskiye Prudy, where pseudo-Laipanov leased cellars. Gochiayev supervised the placement of the explosives in the rented cellars. Next followed the explosions at the former two addresses. The explosion at 16 Borisovskiye Prudy was prevented.<ref name="globalsecurity_fsb"></ref><ref name="wolvesofislam"/> Batchayev and Krymshakhalov admitted transporting a truckload of explosives to Moscow but said "they have never been in touch with Chechen warlords and did not know Gochiyaev".<ref name="Dissident"/> They said that someone "who posed as a jihad leader had duped them into the operation" by hiring them to transport his explosives, and they later realized this man was working for the FSB.<ref name="Dissident"/> They claimed that bombings were directed by ] who supervised the FSB ] and ] special forces units at that time.<ref>, '']'', 09.12.2002</ref> | |||
| Two members of Gochiyayev's group that carried out the attacks, Adam Dekkushev and Yusuf Crymshamhalov, have been sentenced to life term each in a special-regime colony.<ref name="russianjournal"></ref> Both defendants have pleaded guilty only to some of the charges. For instance, Dekkushev acknowledged that he knew the explosives he transported were to be used for an act of terror. Dekkushev also confirmed Gochiyaev's role in the attacks.<ref name="terror99"></ref> Dekkushev was extradited to Russia on April 14, 2002 to stand trial, while Crymshamhalov on Dec. 7, following a special military operation in the Pankisi Gorge.<ref name="russianjournal"/> | |||
| ====Buinaksk==== | |||
| The 4 September ] bombings were ordered by Al-Khattab, who promised the bombers $300,000 to drive their truck bombs into the center of the compound, which would have destroyed four apartment buildings simultaneously. However, the bombers parked on an adjacent street instead and blew up only one building. At the trial they complained, that Khattab had not given them all the money he owed them.<ref name="wolvesofislam"/> One of the bombers confessed working for Al-Khattab, but claimed he did not know the explosives were intended to blow up the military apartment buildings.<ref name="wolvesofislam"/> | |||
| ====Volgodonsk==== | |||
| In early September, Magayayev, Krymshamkhalov, Batchayev and Dekkushev reloaded the cargo into a Mercedes trailer and delivered it to Moscow. En route, they were protected from possible complications by an accomplice called Khakim, who accompanied the trailer in another car. In Moscow they were met by Achimez Gochiayev, who registered in Hotel Altai as Laipanov, and Denis Saitakov. The explosive was left in a warehouse in Ulitsa Krasnodonskaya, which was leased by pseudo-Laipanov (Gochiayev.) The next day hexogen was delivered in Gazelle vans to three addresses – Ulitsa Guryanova, Kashirskoye Shosse and Ulitsa Borisovskiye Prudy, where pseudo-Laipanov leased cellars. Next followed the explosions at the former two addresses. The explosion at 16 Borisovskiye Prudy was prevented.<ref name="globalsecurity_fsb"></ref> | |||
| According to Dekkushev's confession he, together with Krymshamkhalov and Batchayev, prepared the explosives, transported them to ], and randomly picked the apartment building on Octyabrskoye Shosse to blow up. ] had promised to pay him the for the job, but Dekkushev never got a single kopeck. According to Dekkushev, it wasn't the ] that ordered the bombing, as ] later claimed, but the ] ] (CIA).<ref name="wolvesofislam">{{cite book |title=The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror |last=Murphy |first=Paul |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2004 |publisher=Potomac Books Inc. |location= |isbn=978-1574888300 |page= |page=106 }}</ref> | |||
| ], the head of the group that carried out the attacks and allegedly the main organizer, remains a fugitive, and is under an international search warrant.<ref name="russianjournal"/> In a statement released in January, 2004, the FSB said, "until we arrest Gochiyayev, the investigation of the apartment bloc bombings of 1999 will not be finished."<ref name="russiaprofile_convicted"></ref> | |||
| ====Sentences==== | |||
| Two members of Gochiyayev's group that carried out the attacks, ] and ], have been sentenced to life term each in a special-regime colony.<ref name="russianjournal"></ref> Both defendants have pleaded guilty only to some of the charges. For instance, Dekkushev acknowledged that he knew the explosives he transported were to be used for an act of terror. Dekkushev also confirmed Gochiyaev's role in the attacks.<ref name="terror99"></ref> Dekkushev was extradited to Russia on April 14, 2002 to stand trial. Crymshamhalov was apprehended and extradicted to Moscow.<ref name="wolvesofislam"/><ref name="russianjournal"/> In 2000, six bombers involved in the Buynaksk attack were arrested in Azerbaidjan and convicted of the bombing.<ref name="wolvesofislam"/> ], the head of the group that carried out the attacks and allegedly the main organizer, remains a fugitive, and is under an international search warrant.<ref name="russianjournal"/> In a statement released in January, 2004, the FSB said, "until we arrest Gochiyayev, the investigation of the apartment bloc bombings of 1999 will not be finished."<ref name="russiaprofile_convicted"></ref> | |||
| ===Suspects and convictions=== | ===Suspects and convictions=== | ||
| In September 1999, hundreds of Chechen nationals (out of more than 100,000 permanently living in Moscow) were briefly detained and interrogated in Moscow, as a wave of anti-Chechen feeling swept the city.<ref>, '']'', September 18 1999</ref> All of them turned out to be innocent. |
In September 1999, hundreds of Chechen nationals (out of more than 100,000 permanently living in Moscow) were briefly detained and interrogated in Moscow, as a wave of anti-Chechen feeling swept the city.<ref>, '']'', September 18 1999</ref> All of them turned out to be innocent. | ||
| According to the official investigation, the following people either delivered explosives, stored them, or harbored other suspects: | |||
| Arab-born ] ] who was killed by the FSB in 2002. | Arab-born ] ] who was killed by the FSB in 2002. | ||
| Line 151: | Line 146: | ||
| The commission of Sergei Kovalev asked lawyer Mikhail Trepashkin to investigate the case. Trepashkin found that the basement of one of the bombed buildings was rented by FSB officer Vladimir Romanovich and that the latter was witnessed by several people. However Trepashkin was unable to bring the evidence to the court because he was arrested in October 2003, allegedly for "disclosing state secrets", just a few days shortly before he was to make his findings public.<ref>, '']'', January 14, 2004</ref> He was sentenced by a military ] to four years imprisonment.<ref>, '']'', 20/05/2004</ref> ] issued a statement that "there are serious grounds to believe that Mikhail Trepashkin was arrested and convicted under falsified criminal charges which may be politically motivated, in order to prevent him continuing his investigative and legal work related to the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities".<ref></ref> Romanovich subsequently died in a ] accident in ]. According to Trepashkin, his supervisors and people from the FSB promised not to arrest him if he left the Kovalev commission and started working together with the FSB "against Alexander Litvinenko".<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], December 1, 2007. "давай вместе работать против Литвиненко и уйди из комиссии по взрывам домов и тогда тебя никто не тронет. Я говорил со своими шефами, совершенно точно, тебя не тронут. Кончай с Ковалевым Сергеем Адамовичем контактировать в Госдуме и так далее."</ref> Commission chairman Kovalev summarized their findings as follows:<ref name="RFL">{{ru icon}} , ], June 2, 2008</ref> "What can I tell? We can prove only one thing: there was ''no'' any training exercise in the city of Ryazan. Authorities do not want to answer any questions..." | The commission of Sergei Kovalev asked lawyer Mikhail Trepashkin to investigate the case. Trepashkin found that the basement of one of the bombed buildings was rented by FSB officer Vladimir Romanovich and that the latter was witnessed by several people. However Trepashkin was unable to bring the evidence to the court because he was arrested in October 2003, allegedly for "disclosing state secrets", just a few days shortly before he was to make his findings public.<ref>, '']'', January 14, 2004</ref> He was sentenced by a military ] to four years imprisonment.<ref>, '']'', 20/05/2004</ref> ] issued a statement that "there are serious grounds to believe that Mikhail Trepashkin was arrested and convicted under falsified criminal charges which may be politically motivated, in order to prevent him continuing his investigative and legal work related to the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities".<ref></ref> Romanovich subsequently died in a ] accident in ]. According to Trepashkin, his supervisors and people from the FSB promised not to arrest him if he left the Kovalev commission and started working together with the FSB "against Alexander Litvinenko".<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], December 1, 2007. "давай вместе работать против Литвиненко и уйди из комиссии по взрывам домов и тогда тебя никто не тронет. Я говорил со своими шефами, совершенно точно, тебя не тронут. Кончай с Ковалевым Сергеем Адамовичем контактировать в Госдуме и так далее."</ref> Commission chairman Kovalev summarized their findings as follows:<ref name="RFL">{{ru icon}} , ], June 2, 2008</ref> "What can I tell? We can prove only one thing: there was ''no'' any training exercise in the city of Ryazan. Authorities do not want to answer any questions..." | ||
| It has been recognized by many observers that the case is far from being solved. Too many questions remain unanswered.<ref name="RFL"/> On May 30, 2008, the sisters Tatyana and Alyona Morozov, former residents of the apartment block on Guryanva Street, who lost their mother in the bombing, publicly urged the newly elected Russia President ] "to order an independent, open and full investigation of these attacks", as "although these crimes were blamed on Chechen terrorists and used to justify the resumption of a full-scale war against Chechnya later that month, there are numerous indications that Russian security services may have been involved. There is also clear evidence of a cover-up by the authorities."<ref> By TATYANA MOROZOV and ALYONA MOROZOV ] May 30, 2008.</ref> | |||
| It has been recognized by many observers that the case is far from being solved. Too many questions remain unanswered.<ref name="RFL"/> | |||
| ==Theory of Russian government involvement== | ==Theory of Russian government involvement== | ||
| Line 165: | Line 160: | ||
| The theory of FSB involvement has been described in several books and documentaries, including ''Darkness at Dawn'' by American writer and scholar David Satter.<ref name="Satter"/> He wrote before publishing the book that, if the theory is confirmed, Putin's government is not legitimate since it came to power due to staged terrorism acts.<ref name=nationalreview></ref> The ] ] programme ''Dispatches'' report ''Dying for the President'', screened on March 9, 2000, and a subsequent article in '']'' also alleged that their journalists put Russian "secret police in frame for Moscow atrocities".<ref>, By Julie Hyland 15 March 2000</ref><ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite web|author=Johann Hari|publisher=New Statesman|title=Conspiracy theories: a guide|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200212160014|accessdate=2008-01-28}}</ref> Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko and historian Yuri Felshtinsky published the book '']'' about the Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts that have been allegedly committed by Russian State Security Services to justify the Second Chechen War and bring Vladimir Putin to power. On ] ], Russian authorities confiscated over 5000 copies of the book en route to Moscow from the publisher in Latvia.<ref name="seizure"></ref> In a subsequent book, '']'', Litvinenko and ] described the transformation of the FSB into a criminal and terrorist organization. | The theory of FSB involvement has been described in several books and documentaries, including ''Darkness at Dawn'' by American writer and scholar David Satter.<ref name="Satter"/> He wrote before publishing the book that, if the theory is confirmed, Putin's government is not legitimate since it came to power due to staged terrorism acts.<ref name=nationalreview></ref> The ] ] programme ''Dispatches'' report ''Dying for the President'', screened on March 9, 2000, and a subsequent article in '']'' also alleged that their journalists put Russian "secret police in frame for Moscow atrocities".<ref>, By Julie Hyland 15 March 2000</ref><ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite web|author=Johann Hari|publisher=New Statesman|title=Conspiracy theories: a guide|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200212160014|accessdate=2008-01-28}}</ref> Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko and historian Yuri Felshtinsky published the book '']'' about the Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts that have been allegedly committed by Russian State Security Services to justify the Second Chechen War and bring Vladimir Putin to power. On ] ], Russian authorities confiscated over 5000 copies of the book en route to Moscow from the publisher in Latvia.<ref name="seizure"></ref> In a subsequent book, '']'', Litvinenko and ] described the transformation of the FSB into a criminal and terrorist organization. | ||
| A documentary film, ''Assassination of Russia'', was made in 2000 by two French producers who had previously worked with NTV on NTV's ''Sugar of Ryazan'' program.<ref name=autogenerated1> '']'', pages 249-250.</ref> This film was broadcast by the main TV channels of ], ], and ]. Russian ] ] brought a hundred copies to St. Petersburg, but the copies were confiscated at customs, in violation of his ]. No TV station in Russia was able to show the film.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> However tens of thousands of pirate copies were sold in Russia in 2002. On ], ], Sergei Yushenkov brought to ], a box with copies of "''Assassination of Russia''". He tried to convince U.S. administration that bombings were committed by the FSB, however there were no official statements. A staffer in Senate Foreign Relations Committee explained: ''"We just cannot go out and say that the president of Russia is a mass murderer. But it is important that we know it."''<ref> '']'', pages 259.</ref> A documentary ''Nedoverie'' ("Disbelief") about the bombing controversy made by Russian director ] was premiered at the 2004 ]. The film chronicles the story of Tatyana and Alyona Morozova, the two Russian-American sisters, who had lost their mother in the attack, and decided to find out who did it.<ref name="TheMoscowTimes">, ''The Moscow Times'']</ref><ref name="IMDb">. The record in IMDb.</ref><ref name="GoogleVideo"> ]</ref> Alexander Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko have published a book '']''. They asserted that the ] by Russian agents was "the most compelling proof" of the FSB involvement theory. According to the book, the murder of Litvineko "gave credence to all his previous theories, delivering justice for the tenants of the bombed apartment blocks, the ], Sergei Yushenkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, and ], and the half-exterminated ], exposing their killers for the whole world to see."<ref>Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. ''Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB'', The Free Press (2007) ISBN 1-416-55165-4</ref> | A documentary film, ''Assassination of Russia'', was made in 2000 by two French producers who had previously worked with NTV on NTV's ''Sugar of Ryazan'' program.<ref name=autogenerated1> '']'', pages 249-250.</ref> This film was broadcast by the main TV channels of ], ], and ]. Russian ] ] brought a hundred copies to St. Petersburg, but the copies were confiscated at customs, in violation of his ]. No TV station in Russia was able to show the film.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> However tens of thousands of pirate copies were sold in Russia in 2002. On ], ], Sergei Yushenkov brought to ], a box with copies of "''Assassination of Russia''". He tried to convince U.S. administration that bombings were committed by the FSB, however there were no official statements. A staffer in Senate Foreign Relations Committee explained: ''"We just cannot go out and say that the president of Russia is a mass murderer. But it is important that we know it."''<ref> '']'', pages 259.</ref> A documentary ''Nedoverie'' ("Disbelief") about the bombing controversy made by Russian director ] was premiered at the 2004 ]. The film chronicles the story of Tatyana and Alyona Morozova, the two Russian-American sisters, who had lost their mother in the attack, and decided to find out who did it.<ref name="TheMoscowTimes">, ''The Moscow Times'']</ref><ref name="IMDb">. The record in IMDb.</ref><ref name="GoogleVideo"> ]</ref> Alexander Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko have published a book '']''. They asserted that the ] by Russian agents was "the most compelling proof" of the FSB involvement theory. According to the book, the murder of Litvineko "gave credence to all his previous theories, delivering justice for the tenants of the bombed apartment blocks, the ], Sergei Yushenkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, and ], and the half-exterminated ], exposing their killers for the whole world to see."<ref>Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. ''Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB'', The Free Press (2007) ISBN 1-416-55165-4</ref> Litvinenko' books and the movies ''Assassination of Russia'' and ''Disbelief'' were sponsored by a controversial self-exiled Russian tycoon and Putin ally-turned-enemy ].<ref></ref><ref></ref> Co-author of the ''Gang from Lubyanka'' and ''Death of a Dissident'' Alexander Goldfarb is an executive director of ] (established by Berezovsky) since November 2000.<ref></ref><ref></ref> David Satter heavily relies on research sponsored by Berezovsky in his book.<ref></ref><ref name=nationalreview /> | ||
| Litvinenko' books and the movies ''Assassination of Russia'' and ''Disbelief'' were sponsored by a controversial self-exiled Russian tycoon and Putin ally-turned-enemy ].<ref></ref><ref></ref> Co-author of the ''Gang from Lubyanka'' and ''Death of a Dissident'' Alexander Goldfarb is an executive director of ] (established by Berezovsky) since November 2000.<ref></ref><ref></ref> David Satter heavily relies on research sponsored by Berezovsky in his book.<ref></ref><ref name=nationalreview /> | |||
| Russian writer ] authored a political thriller ''Mr. Hexogen'' which describes the bombings as a "] electoral technique".<ref>''The Age of Assassins'', page 183</ref><ref> , by Dr. Alexandr Nemets and Dr. Thomas Torda, ] </ref> Russian author and businessman ], author of ], wrote a novel ''The Lesser Evil'', based on the bombings. The main characters of the story are ''Platon'' (Boris Berezovsky) and ''Larry'' (]). They struggle against an evil KGB officer, ''Old man'' (apparently inspired by the legendary ]), who brings another KGB officer, ''Fedor Fedorovich'' (Vladimir Putin) to power by staging a series of apartment bombings.<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], 19-02-05</ref> | Russian writer ] authored a political thriller ''Mr. Hexogen'' which describes the bombings as a "] electoral technique".<ref>''The Age of Assassins'', page 183</ref><ref> , by Dr. Alexandr Nemets and Dr. Thomas Torda, ] </ref> Russian author and businessman ], author of ], wrote a novel ''The Lesser Evil'', based on the bombings. The main characters of the story are ''Platon'' (Boris Berezovsky) and ''Larry'' (]). They struggle against an evil KGB officer, ''Old man'' (apparently inspired by the legendary ]), who brings another KGB officer, ''Fedor Fedorovich'' (Vladimir Putin) to power by staging a series of apartment bombings.<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], 19-02-05</ref> | ||
| === |
===Criticism=== | ||
| On the evening of ], ], a resident of an apartment building in the city of ] noticed two suspicious men who carried sacks into the basement from a car with a Moscow license plate.<ref name="Assassins">''The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin'', ] and ], Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6; pages 105-111.</ref> He alerted the police, but by the time they arrived the car and the men were gone. The policemen found three 50kg sacks of white powder in the basement. A ] and a ] were attached and armed. The timer was set to 5:30 AM.<ref name="Dissident"/> Yuri Tkachenko, the head of the local ], disconnected the detonator and the timer and tested the three sacks of white substance with a "MO-2" ]. The device detected traces of ], the ] used in all previous bombings.<ref name="Satter"/><ref></ref><ref>http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/mar2000/chec-m15.shtml</ref> | |||
| Police and rescue vehicles converged from different parts of the city, and 30,000 residents were evacuated from the area. 1,200 local police officers armed with automatic weapons set up ]s on highways around the city and started patrolling railroad stations and airports to hunt the terrorists down. In the morning, "Ryazan resembled a city under siege".<ref name="Satter"/> ]es of two men and a woman terrorist suspects were shown on TV. In the morning of ] Russian television networks reported the attempt to blow up a building in Ryazan using hexogen.<ref name="ort">{{ru icon}} ] newscast on 23.09.99, at 09:00]</ref> Minister of ] ] announced that police prevented a terrorist act. Later in the evening ] ] praised the vigilance of the Ryazanians and called for the air bombing of the Chechen capital ].<ref>"]", page 196</ref> In the evening of September 23, the perpetrators were caught. A telephone service employee tapped into long distance phone conversations and managed to detect a talk in which an out-of-town person suggested to others that they "split up" and "make your own way out". That person's number was traced to a ] serving FSB offices.<ref>, ], January 27, 2000</ref> When arrested, the detainees produced FSB identification cards. They were soon released on orders from Moscow.<ref name=shadow>, ], April 30, 2002</ref> | |||
| On ] ], two days before the ], ] featured the Ryazan events of fall 1999 on the talk show ''Independent Investigation''. The talk with the residents of the Ryazan apartment building along with FSB members Alexander Zdanovich and General Sergeyev was filmed earlier on March 20, 2000. The FSB members refused to provide the name of the head of the training exercise, if there was any. On March 26 ] voiced his concern over the possible shut-down of NTV for airing the talk.<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], ], '']'', August 27, 2001</ref> NTV general manager ] spoke at the ] on the day the show aired and said that Information Minister ] warned him on several occasions. Malashenko's recollection of Lesin's warning was that by airing the talk show NTV "crossed the line and that we were outlaws in their eyes."<ref>, Miriam Lanskoy, 8 November 2000, ], Issue 4630</ref> According to ], an associate of Berezovsky and Litvinenko, Malashenko told him years later that ] brought a warning from the Kremlin one day before airing the show. Goldfarb wrote that the warning in no uncertain terms said that NTV "should consider themselves finished" if they would go ahead with the broadcast.<ref> "]", page 198</ref> | |||
| ===Incident in Russian Parliament=== | |||
| On ], just hours after the second explosion in Moscow, Russian Duma speaker ] of the Communist Party made a surprising announcement: "''I have just received a report. According to information from Rostov-on-Don, an apartment building in the city of ] was blown up last night''".<ref name=autogenerated5> "Death of a Dissident", page 265 </ref><ref name="Jamestown">, ], June 12, 2003</ref><ref name="CDI"></ref><ref>{{ru icon}} , ], 21 March 2002</ref> However the bombing in Volgodonsk took place only three days later, on ]. When the Volgodonsk bombing happened, ] demanded an explanation in Duma, but Seleznev turned his microphone off.<ref name=autogenerated5 /><ref> ] said in Russian Duma: "Remember Gennadiy Nikolaevich how you told us that a house has been blown up in Volgodonsk, three days prior to the blast? How should we interpret this? The State Duma knows that the house was destroyed on Monday, and it has indeed been blown up on Thursday ... How come... the state authorities of Rostov region were not warned in advance , although it was reported to us? Everyone is sleeping, the house was destroyed three days later, and now we must take urgent measures..." .</ref> Two years later, in March 2002, Seleznyov claimed in an interview that he had been referring to an unrelated ]-based explosion, which did not kill anyone and did not destroy any buildings, and which indeed happened in Volgodonsk.<ref name="Seleznev"> "Darkness at Dawn", page 269.</ref><ref name="terror99-2">{{ru icon}} </ref> It remains unclear why Seleznyov reported such an insignificant incident to the Russian Parliament and why he did not explain the misunderstanding to Zhirinovsky and other Duma members.<ref name="Seleznev"/> Former FSB spy and Kremlin-critic ] described this as a "the usual ] mess up": ''"Moscow-2 was on the 13th and Volgodonsk on 16th, but they got it to the speaker the other way around,"'' he said. Investigator ] confirmed that the man who gave Seleznev the note was indeed an FSB officer.<ref> "Death of a Dissident", page 266 </ref> | |||
| ===Explosives controversies=== | |||
| It was initially reported by the FSB that the explosives used by the terrorists was ] (or "hexogen"). However, it was officially declared later that the explosive was not RDX, but a mixture of aluminum powder, ] (saltpeter), ], and ] prepared by the perpetrators in a ] at a fertilizer factory in ], Chechnya.<ref name="Kommersant2004-01-13">{{ru icon}} , '']'', January 13, 2004. (Russian:"в бетономешалке изготовила смесь из сахара, селитры и алюминиевой пудры"</ref><ref name="Kommersant2002-12-10"/> RDX is produced in only one{{Fact|date=August 2008}} factory in Russia, in the city of ],<ref name="Satter"/> although it might be also smuggled from suppliers outside of Russia<ref></ref> or stolen from munition storage facilities.<ref>{{ru icon}} , ], 19.07.2003</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} </ref><ref>{{ru icon}} , ], March 5 2002</ref> According to the book by Satter, the FSB changed the story about the type of explosive, since it was difficult to explain how huge{{Fact|date=August 2008}} amounts of RDX disappeared from the closely guarded Perm facility. ], is, however, a widely used military and industrial explosive, which has been manufactured by many countries, and Satter's claims regarding restricted access to ] have been dismissed by a former Russian government official Dzhabrail Gakayev as ] ''was, and still is, readily available in ]<ref>p.95, ''Chechnya: From Past To Future'', Richard Sakwa, pub. Anthem Press, 2005, | |||
| ISBN 184331164X, 9781843311645</ref>'' <ref></ref> | |||
| Another controversy was related to the type of explosives that were used by FSB agents in Ryazan. Answering a parliamentary request, the Russian Deputy Prosecutor declared in 2002 that a comprehensive testing of the samples showed no traces of any explosives, and that sacks from Ryazan in fact contained only ].<ref name=kolmogorov></ref> | |||
| However Yuri Tkachenko, the police explosives expert who defused the Ryazan bomb, insisted that it was real.<ref></ref><ref>http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/mar2000/chec-m15.shtml</ref> Tkachenko said that the explosives, including a timer, a power source, and a detonator were genuine military equipment and obviously prepared by a professional. He also said that the gas analyzer that tested the vapors coming from the sacks unmistakably indicated the presence of RDX. Tkachenko said that it was out of the question that the analyzer could have malfunctioned, as the gas analyzer was of world class quality, costing $20,000 and was maintained by a specialist who worked according to a strict schedule, checking the analyzer after each use and making frequent prophylactic checks. Tkachenko pointed out that meticulous care in the handling of the gas analyzer was a necessity because the lives of the bomb squad experts depended on the reliability of their equipment. The police officers who answered the original call and discovered the bomb also insisted that it was obvious from its appearance that the substance in the bomb was not sugar.<ref name="Satter"/><ref name="NationalReview">, ], ], ], ].</ref> | |||
| In March 2000, Russian newspaper ''] ''reported about a Private Alexei Pinyaev of the 137th Regiment who guarded a military facility near the city of Ryazan. He was surprised to see that "a storehouse with weapons and ammunition" contained sacks with the word "sugar" on them. The two paratroopers cut a hole in one of the bags and made a tea with the sugar taken from the bag. But the taste of tea was terrible. They became suspicious since people were talking about the explosions. The substance turned out to be the hexogen. After the newspaper report, FSB officers "descended on Pinyaev's unit", accused them of "divulging a state secret", and told them "You guys can't even imagine what serious business you've got yourselves tangled up in." The regiment later sued ''Novaya Gazeta'' for insulting the honor of the Russian Army, since there was no Private Alexei Pinyaev in the regiment, according to their statement.<ref> "The Age of Assassins", pages 127-129</ref> After Russian troops entered Chechnya in October 1999, military officials said they had discovered a laboratory in the town of ], along with a large stockpile of explosive materials and training literature that they said appeared to be connected to several of the apartment building explosions.<ref name="nyt_6conv"/> | |||
| ===Publications about advanced planning of the bombings=== | |||
| On ] ], three months before the bombings, Swedish journalist Jan Blomgren wrote in newspaper '']'' that one of options considered by the Kremlin leaders was "a series of terror bombings in Moscow that could be blamed on the Chechens."<ref name="Advance"> "Darkness at Dawn", page 267 </ref> On ], Moscow newspaper ''Moskovskaya Pravda'' published leaked documents about an operation "Storm in Moscow", which by organizing terrorist acts to cause chaos would bring about a state of emergency, thus saving the Yeltsin regime.<ref> "Darkness at Dawn", page 63 </ref> Russian Duma member Konstantin Borovoi said that he had been "warned by an agent of Russian military intelligence of a wave of terrorist bombings" prior to the blasts.<ref name="Advance"/> | |||
| ====Details on the parliamentary request==== | |||
| In 2002 deputy of ] ] requested the General Prosecutor's Office on the results of investigation of criminal cases incited by facts of explosions of blocks of apartments in Moscow, Volgodonsk and discovering of explosive devices in Ryazan; answer of Russian Deputy Prosecutor Vasiliy Kolmogorov was then published in Russian media.<ref name=kolmogorov></ref> According to it, express analysis of the discovered substance made by detectors "Exprei" и "М-02" showed controversial results. To remove the controversy, three 3 kg samples were taken from the sacks in question and blown up at the testing area; in all cases no explosion followed. During the additional investigation ordered by the General Prosecutor's Office, an explosives examination was made which showed that "the sacks contained ] — ] based on ] and ]. No traces of ]s (], ], ], ], ], ], ]) were found in the examined substance. Investigation of clocks, elements of power supply, shell, bulb and wires showed that although these items constituted a single electronic block, it wasn't capable of giving voltage when alarm of the timer was triggered and isn't a blasting device". It was also noted that "mission in Ryazan was not properly planned and done, in particular the question of limits of carrying out this action was not properly specified, no provision was made for information sharing with representatives of local bodies or bodies of law and order about the training character of the implant in case it was discovered."<ref name=kolmogorov/> | |||
| ==Criticism of the theory== | |||
| ===Officials=== | |||
| According to Russia's official investigation, Caucasian separatists were responsible for the bombings. The FSB said the Ryazan bomb was a dummy, planted by security officers as part of a secret civil defense drill, the sacks being filled with sugar. The purpose of the terrorist acts was to distract attention of Russian authorities from the battles in Dagestan between the federal forces and rebels, including Chechens and headed by ] and Ibn al-Khattab.<ref name=off/> Basayev and Khattab invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan on ] ], in support of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The bombings and the invasion prompted Russian authorities to break the ], even though the invasion was opposed by ]. An FSB spokesman said that "Litvinenko's evidence cannot be taken seriously by those who are investigating the bombings".<ref name="Nedbaeva">{{cite web|publisher=Agence France-Presse|author=Olga Nedbayeva|title=Conspiracy theories on Russia's 1999 bombings gain ground|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/072.htm}}</ref> | According to Russia's official investigation, Caucasian separatists were responsible for the bombings. The FSB said the Ryazan bomb was a dummy, planted by security officers as part of a secret civil defense drill, the sacks being filled with sugar. The purpose of the terrorist acts was to distract attention of Russian authorities from the battles in Dagestan between the federal forces and rebels, including Chechens and headed by ] and Ibn al-Khattab.<ref name=off/> Basayev and Khattab invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan on ] ], in support of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The bombings and the invasion prompted Russian authorities to break the ], even though the invasion was opposed by ]. An FSB spokesman said that "Litvinenko's evidence cannot be taken seriously by those who are investigating the bombings".<ref name="Nedbaeva">{{cite web|publisher=Agence France-Presse|author=Olga Nedbayeva|title=Conspiracy theories on Russia's 1999 bombings gain ground|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/072.htm}}</ref> | ||
| ], an advisor to the Russian government, criticized the film ''Assassination of Russia'' which supported the FSB involvement theory. Markov said that the film was "a well-made professional example of the propagandist and psychological war that Boris Berezovsky is notoriously good at." Markov found parallels between the film and the conspiracy theory that the United States and/or ] organized the ] to justify military actions.<ref>, ], April 24 2002.</ref> | ], an advisor to the Russian government, criticized the film ''Assassination of Russia'' which supported the FSB involvement theory. Markov said that the film was "a well-made professional example of the propagandist and psychological war that Boris Berezovsky is notoriously good at." Markov found parallels between the film and the conspiracy theory that the United States and/or ] organized the ] to justify military actions.<ref>, ], April 24 2002.</ref> | ||
| Professor Richard Sakwa has commented on the claims of Berezovsky and Litvinenko, that the evidence they presented was at best circumstanstial.<ref name="sakwa2">{{cite book |title=Putin, Russia's choice |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |authorlink=] |coauthors= |year=2008 |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-40765-6 |pages=333-334 }}</ref> | |||
| ===Scholars=== | |||
| According to researcher Gordon Bennett, the conspiracy theory that FSB was behind explosions is kept alive by the Russian oligarch and Kremlin-critic ]. Bennett points out, that neither Berezovsky nor his team (which includes Alexander Litvinenko) have provided any evidence to support their claims. In the ] ] interview on 8 May 2002, Berezovsky was also not able to present any evidence for his claims, and also did not suggest he was in possession of such evidence which he would be ready to present in a court.<ref name="bennett"> Gordon Bennet, 2002</ref> Bennett also points out, that it is occasionally forgotten by Putin's critics, that the decision to send troops to Chechnya was taken by Boris Yeltin - not Vladimir Putin - with the wholehearted support of all power structures.<ref name="bennett"/> | |||
| Professor Richard Sakwa has commented on the claims of Berezovsky and Litvinenko, saying that the evidence they presented was at best circumstanstial.<ref name="sakwa2">{{cite book |title=Putin, Russia's choice |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |authorlink=] |coauthors= |year=2008 |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-40765-6 |pages=333-334 }}</ref> | |||
| According to researcher Gordon Bennett, the conspiracy theory that FSB was behind explosions is kept alive by the Russian oligarch and Kremlin-critic ]. Bennett points out, that neither Berezovsky nor his team (which includes Alexander Litvinenko) have provided any evidence to support their claims. In the ] ] interview on 8 May 2002, Berezovsky was also not able to present any evidence for his claims, and also did not suggest he was in possession of such evidence which he would be ready to present in a court.<ref name="bennett"> Gordon Bennet, 2002</ref>. Bennett also points out, that it is occasionally forgotten by Putin's critics, that the decision to send troops to Chechnya was taken by Boris Yeltin - not Vladimir Putin - with the wholehearted support of all power structures.<ref name="bennett"/> | |||
| Dr Vlad Sobell has pointed out, that the proponents of the theory that the second invasion of Chechnya was a plot by Putin to get elected regularly ignore the key fact, that Putin's attack on Chechnya in 1999 was preceded by Chechen insurrection in Dagestan, whose objective was to turn it into another unstable Chechnya.<ref name="sobell_interview"></ref> | Dr Vlad Sobell has pointed out, that the proponents of the theory that the second invasion of Chechnya was a plot by Putin to get elected regularly ignore the key fact, that Putin's attack on Chechnya in 1999 was preceded by Chechen insurrection in Dagestan, whose objective was to turn it into another unstable Chechnya.<ref name="sobell_interview"></ref> | ||
| According to professor ] and researcher ], the involvement of the Liberation army of Dagestan is the most likely explanation for the attacks.<ref name="henryhale_8"/> | |||
| According to Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs ] of ], one thing that remains unclear about the "FSB did it" theory: If the motive was to get an FSB-friendly man installed as president, why would the FSB have preferred Putin, a little-known "upstart" who had leapt to the post of FSB director through outside political channels, to Primakov, who was certainly senior in stature and pedigree and who was also widely reputed to have a KGB past?<ref name="henryhale_8"></ref> | According to Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs ] of ], one thing that remains unclear about the "FSB did it" theory: If the motive was to get an FSB-friendly man installed as president, why would the FSB have preferred Putin, a little-known "upstart" who had leapt to the post of FSB director through outside political channels, to Primakov, who was certainly senior in stature and pedigree and who was also widely reputed to have a KGB past?<ref name="henryhale_8"></ref> | ||
| According to Dr. Robert Bruce Ware of Southern Illinois University, "The assertions that Russian security services are responsible for the bombings is at least partially incorrect, and appears to have given rise to an obscurantist mythology of Russian culpability. At the very least, it is clear that these assertions are incomplete in so far as they have not taken full account of the evidence suggesting the responsibility of Wahhabis under the leadership of Khattab, who may have been seeking retribution for the federal assault upon Dagestan's Islamic Djamaat."<ref name="from_past_to_future"/> | |||
| === Other === | |||
| A year after the apartment bombings, on 8 August, 2000, another explosion happened in Moscow.<ref name="bbc_aug2000"/> Eight people were killed and more than 50 were injured. Chechen separatists were widely blamed for the blast. One of Russia's heavyweight papers, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, argued the blast lifted any suspicion that the now-president Putin had anything to do with the apartment-block bombs in 1999. "The explosion in Pushkin Square has dispelled all speculation in this respect", the paper wrote, adding that one can only imagine what the public's reaction will be after the newest blast.<ref name="bbc_aug2000"></ref> | A year after the apartment bombings, on 8 August, 2000, another explosion happened in Moscow.<ref name="bbc_aug2000"/> Eight people were killed and more than 50 were injured. Chechen separatists were widely blamed for the blast. One of Russia's heavyweight papers, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, argued the blast lifted any suspicion that the now-president Putin had anything to do with the apartment-block bombs in 1999. "The explosion in Pushkin Square has dispelled all speculation in this respect", the paper wrote, adding that one can only imagine what the public's reaction will be after the newest blast.<ref name="bbc_aug2000"></ref> | ||
| ==Support |
===Support=== | ||
| ] and presidential candidate ] said that there remained "credible allegations that Russia's FSB had a hand in carrying out these attacks".<ref>, November 4, 2003, Friends of John McCain.</ref><ref></ref> Popular Russian politician and retired army general ], at the time the ] of ], asked if he thought the government had organized the terrorist attacks, said that he is "almost convinced of it."<ref> by ]</ref> | ] and presidential candidate ] said that there remained "credible allegations that Russia's FSB had a hand in carrying out these attacks".<ref>, November 4, 2003, Friends of John McCain.</ref><ref></ref> Popular Russian politician and retired army general ], at the time the ] of ], asked if he thought the government had organized the terrorist attacks, said that he is "almost convinced of it."<ref> by ]</ref> | ||
| Line 233: | Line 195: | ||
| </blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
| ==Neutral stance== | ===Neutral stance=== | ||
| A summary of a conference at ] concluded that although "the Russian leadership has exploited the tragedy of the bombings for political purposes", there is no convincing proof of any version, including the "Chechen guilt" or "the 'conspiracy theory' that ties responsibility to the Russian FSB (the successor to the KGB)."<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-01-28|title=The Crisis In Chechnya: Causes, Prospects, Solutions|publisher=Princeton University|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~lisd/projects/archives/russia/Summary_Chechnya_2000.pdf}}</ref> | A summary of a conference at ] concluded that although "the Russian leadership has exploited the tragedy of the bombings for political purposes", there is no convincing proof of any version, including the "Chechen guilt" or "the 'conspiracy theory' that ties responsibility to the Russian FSB (the successor to the KGB)."<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-01-28|title=The Crisis In Chechnya: Causes, Prospects, Solutions|publisher=Princeton University|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~lisd/projects/archives/russia/Summary_Chechnya_2000.pdf}}</ref> | ||
| Line 252: | Line 214: | ||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| *] | |||
| *] | *] | ||
| *] | *] | ||
Revision as of 02:17, 19 February 2009
| Russian apartment bombings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Russia (Buynaksk-Moscow-Volgodonsk) |
| Date | September 4-16, 1999 |
| Target | Low-income apartment buildings |
| Attack type | Time bombings |
| Deaths | Nearly 300 |
| Injured | More than 1,000 |
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing nearly 300 people and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings were blamed by the Russian government on Chechen separatists and together with the Islamist invasion of Dagestan, a republic within the Russian Federation, that took place in August 1999, lead to the military invasion of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which started on September 30 and escalated the Second Chechen War. The Chechen militants and secessionist authorities, however, have denied their involvement in the bombing campaign as well as the Dagestan War.
The blasts hit Buynaksk on September 4, Moscow on September 9 and 13, and Volgodonsk on September 16. Several other bombs were defused in Moscow on September 13. A similar bomb was found and defused in the Russian city of Ryazan on September 23. The (then) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the Ryazanians and ordered air attacks on Grozny. The local police caught two Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents who planted the bomb in Ryazan shortly afterwards. On September 24 FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev announced that the Ryazan incident had been a training exercise.
An official FSB investigation of the bombings was completed in 2002 and concluded that they were organized by Achemez Gochiyaev, who remains at large, and ordered by Islamist warlords Ibn Al-Khattab and Abu Omar al-Saif, who have been killed. Six other suspects have been convicted by Russian courts. However, many observers, including State Duma deputies Yuri Shchekochikhin, Sergei Kovalev and Sergei Yushenkov, cast doubts on the official version and sought an independent investigation. Some historians and independent journalists, including David Satter, Alexander Litvinenko, Yury Felshtinsky, Vladimir Pribylovsky), as well as the Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, claimed that the bombings were a false flag attack coordinated by the FSB in order to win public support for a new full-scale war in Chechnya, which boosted Prime Minister and former FSB Director Vladimir Putin's popularity, brought the pro-war Unity Party to the State Duma and him to the presidency within a few months.
The bombings
Five apartment bombings took place and at least three attempted bombings were prevented. All bombing had the same "signature", judging from the nature and the volume of the destruction. In each case the explosive RDX was used, and the timers were set to go off at night and inflict the maximum number of civilian casualties. The explosives were placed to destroy the weakest, most critical elements of the buildings and force the buildings to "collapse like a house of cards". The terrorists were able to obtain or manufacture several tons of powerful explosives and deliver them to numerous destinations across Russia .
Moscow mall
On August 31, at 20:00 local time a powerful explosion took place in a busy Moscow shopping center. One person was killed and 40 others injured. According to FSB, the explosion had been caused by a bomb of about 300g of explosives.
Buynaksk, Dagestan
On September 4, 1999, at 22:00 (18:00 GMT), a car bomb detonated outside a five story apartment building in the city of Buynaksk in Dagestan, near the border of Chechnya. The building was housing Russian border guard soldiers and their families. 64 people were killed and 133 were injured in the explosion. Another carbomb was found and defused in another part of the town. According to a book by Yuri Felshtinsky, a friend of Alexander Litvinenko, the defused bomb was in a car containing 2,706 kilograms of explosives and was found in a parking lot surrounded by an army hospital and residential buildings, and it was discovered by local residents. Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Kolesnikov suspected, that the explosion was linked with the earlier invasion of militants from Chechnya to Dagestan.
The town had been used as a Garrison town for Russian troops sent in to crush the separatist Islamic rebellion.
Moscow, Pechatniki
On September 9, shortly after midnight local time, at 20:00 GMT, 300 to 400 kg of explosives detonated on the ground floor of an apartment building in south-east Moscow (19 Guryanova Street). The nine-story building was destroyed, killing 94 people inside and injuring 249 others. 15 nearby buildings were also damaged. A total of 108 apartments were destroyed during the bombing. An FSB spokesman identified the explosive as hexogen. The President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin ordered the search of 30,000 residential buildings in Moscow for explosives. Yeltsin took personal control of the investigation of the blast.. Vladimir Putin declared September 13 a day of mourning for the victims of the attacks.
Moscow, Kashirskoye highway
On September 13, 1999, at 5:00 a.m., a large bomb exploded at 5:00 a.m. in a basement of an apartment block on Kashirskoye Highway in southern Moscow, about 6 km from the place of the last attack. The eight-story building was flattened, littering the street with debris and throwing some concrete pieces hundreds of yards away. In all, 118 people died and 200 were injured. According to American journalist David Satter, the basement of the destroyed building was checked by police three hours prior to the blast.
Moscow, attempted bombings
On September 13, a bomb was defused in a building in the Kapotnya area. A warehouse containing several tons of explosives and six timing devices was found at Borisov Ponds. How these sites were discovered has never officially been announced.
A Karachai businessman Achemez Gochiyaev, who was later declared a key suspect by FSB, called the police and warned about the bombing locations, which helped to prevent a large number of further casualties. Gochiyaev claimed that he was framed by his old acquaintance, an FSB officer who asked him to rent basements "as storage facilities" at four locations where bombs were later found. When the first two bombs went off, Gochiyaev says, he realized that he had been framed and called the police to warn about the bombing. FSB later published pictures which showed him together with Khattab to prove that two men had close links.. Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko asked British forensics expert Geoffrey Oxlee to examine the digitized photos. According to Oxlee, "the images were of poor quality and had been exposed to digital processing", but didn't say that they were faked, but that the photographic evidence was "inconclusive".
Vladimir Putin stated, that the people responsible for the bombings in Moscow are hiding on Chechen territory. 27 terrorist suspects had been arrested in Moscow over the period of 9-14 September.
Volgodonsk
A truck bomb exploded on September 16, 1999, outside a nine-story apartment complex in the southern Russian city of Volgodonsk, killing 17 people and injuring 69. The bombing took place at 5:57 am. Surrounding buildings were also damaged. The blast also happened nine miles from a nuclear power plant. Prime Minister Putin signed a decree calling on law enforcement and other agencies to develop plans within three days to protect industry, transportation, communications, food processing centers and nuclear complexes.
Ryazan incident
On the evening of September 22, 1999, a resident of an apartment building in the city of Ryazan noticed two suspicious men who carried sacks into the basement from a car with a Moscow license plate. He alerted the police, but by the time they arrived the car and the men were gone. The policemen found three 50kg sacks of white powder in the basement. A detonator and a timing device were attached and armed. The timer was set to 5:30 AM. Yuri Tkachenko, the head of the local bomb squad, disconnected the detonator and the timer and tested the three sacks of white substance with a "MO-2" gas analyzer. The device detected traces of hexogen, the military explosive used in all previous bombings. Police and rescue vehicles converged from different parts of the city, and 30,000 residents were evacuated from the area. 1,200 local police officers armed with automatic weapons set up roadblocks on highways around the city and started patrolling railroad stations and airports to hunt the terrorists down. In the morning, "Ryazan resembled a city under siege". Composite sketches of two men and a woman terrorist suspects were shown on TV. In the morning of September 23 Russian television networks reported the attempt to blow up a building in Ryazan using hexogen. Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Rushailo announced that police prevented a terrorist act. Later in the evening, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the Ryazanians and called for the air bombing of the Chechen capital Grozny. In the evening of September 23, the perpetrators were caught. A telephone service employee tapped into long distance phone conversations and managed to detect a talk in which an out-of-town person suggested to others that they "split up" and "make your own way out". That person's number was traced to a telephone exchange unit serving FSB offices. When arrested, the detainees produced FSB identification cards. They were soon released on orders from Moscow.
The next morning, FSB director Nikolai Patrushev declared that the incident was a training exercise. FSB issued a public apology and said that the explosives were dummies used in the exercise. On March 24 2000, two days before the presidential elections, NTV Russia featured the Ryazan events of fall 1999 on the talk show Independent Investigation. The talk with the residents of the Ryazan apartment building along with FSB members Alexander Zdanovich and General Sergeyev was filmed earlier on March 20, 2000. The FSB members refused to provide the name of the head of the training exercise, if there was any. On March 26 Boris Nemtsov voiced his concern over the possible shut-down of NTV for airing the talk. NTV general manager Igor Malashenko spoke at the JFK School of Government on the day the show aired and said that Information Minister Mikhail Lesin warned him on several occasions. Malashenko's recollection of Lesin's warning was that by airing the talk show NTV "crossed the line and that we were outlaws in their eyes." According to Alexander Goldfarb, Malashenko told him that Valentin Yumashev brought a warning from the Kremlin one day before airing the show. The warning in no uncertain terms said that NTV "should consider themselves finished" if they would go ahead with the broadcast.
Explosives controversies
It was initially reported by the FSB that the explosives used by the terrorists was RDX (or "hexogen"). However, it was officially declared later that the explosive was not RDX, but a mixture of aluminum powder, niter (saltpeter), sugar, and TNT prepared by the perpetrators in a concrete mixer at a fertilizer factory in Urus-Martan, Chechnya. RDX is produced in only one factory in Russia, in the city of Perm, although it might be also smuggled from suppliers outside of Russia or stolen from munition storage facilities. According to the book by Satter, the FSB changed the story about the type of explosive, since it was difficult to explain how huge amounts of RDX disappeared from the closely guarded Perm facility. RDX, is, however, a widely used military and industrial explosive, which has been manufactured by many countries, and Satter's claims regarding restricted access to RDX have been dismissed by a former Russian government official Dzhabrail Gakayev as RDX was, and still is, readily available in Dagestan
Another controversy was related to the type of explosives that were used by FSB agents in Ryazan. The Russian Deputy Prosecutor declared in 2002 that a comprehensive testing of the samples showed no traces of any explosives, and that sacks from Ryazan in fact contained only sugar. However Yuri Tkachenko, the police explosives expert who defused the Ryazan bomb, insisted that it was real. Tkachenko said that the explosives, including a timer, a power source, and a detonator were genuine military equipment and obviously prepared by a professional. He also said that the gas analyzer that tested the vapors coming from the sacks unmistakably indicated the presence of RDX. Tkachenko said that it was out of the question that the analyzer could have malfunctioned, as the gas analyzer was of world class quality, costing $20,000 and was maintained by a specialist who worked according to a strict schedule, checking the analyzer after each use and making frequent prophylactic checks. Tkachenko pointed out that meticulous care in the handling of the gas analyzer was a necessity because the lives of the bomb squad experts depended on the reliability of their equipment. The police officers who answered the original call and discovered the bomb also insisted that it was obvious from its appearance that the substance in the bomb was not sugar.
In March 2000, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported about a Private Alexei Pinyaev of the 137th Regiment who guarded a military facility near the city of Ryazan. He was surprised to see that "a storehouse with weapons and ammunition" contained sacks with the word "sugar" on them. The two paratroopers cut a hole in one of the bags and made a tea with the sugar taken from the bag. But the taste of tea was terrible. They became suspicious since people were talking about the explosions. The substance turned out to be the hexogen. After the newspaper report, FSB officers "descended on Pinyaev's unit", accused them of "divulging a state secret", and told them "You guys can't even imagine what serious business you've got yourselves tangled up in." The regiment later sued Novaya Gazeta for insulting the honor of the Russian Army, since there was no Private Alexei Pinyaev in the regiment, according to their statement. After Russian troops entered Chechnya in October 1999, military officials said they had discovered a laboratory in the town of Urus-Martan, along with a large stockpile of explosive materials and training literature that they said appeared to be connected to several of the apartment building explosions.
Other incidents
Incident in Russian Parliament
On September 13, just hours after the second explosion in Moscow, Russian Duma speaker Gennadiy Seleznyov of the Communist Party made a surprising announcement: "I have just received a report. According to information from Rostov-on-Don, an apartment building in the city of Volgodonsk was blown up last night". However the bombing in Volgodonsk took place only three days later, on September 16. When the Volgodonsk bombing happened, Vladimir Zhirinovsky demanded an explanation in Duma, but Seleznev turned his microphone off. Two years later, in March 2002, Seleznyov claimed in an interview that he had been referring to an unrelated hand grenade-based explosion, which did not kill anyone and did not destroy any buildings, and which indeed happened in Volgodonsk. It remains unclear why Seleznyov reported such an insignificant incident to the Russian Parliament and why he did not explain the misunderstanding to Zhirinovsky and other Duma members. Former FSB spy and Kremlin-critic Alexander Litvinenko described this as a "the usual Kontora mess up": "Moscow-2 was on the 13th and Volgodonsk on 16th, but they got it to the speaker the other way around," he said. Investigator Mikhail Trepashkin confirmed that the man who gave Seleznev the note was indeed an FSB officer.
Publications about advanced planning of the bombings
On June 6 1999, three months before the bombings, Swedish journalist Jan Blomgren wrote in newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that one of options considered by the Kremlin leaders was "a series of terror bombings in Moscow that could be blamed on the Chechens." On July 22, Moscow newspaper Moskovskaya Pravda published leaked documents about an operation "Storm in Moscow", which by organizing terrorist acts to cause chaos would bring about a state of emergency, thus saving the Yeltsin regime. Russian Duma member Konstantin Borovoi said that he had been "warned by an agent of Russian military intelligence of a wave of terrorist bombings" prior to the blasts.
Official FSB investigation
Just a few days after the bombings, on September 23, the head of Moscow FSB Alexander Tsarenko announced that all Chechen perpetrators had been already apprehended. However, the people mentioned by Tsarenko turned out to be not Chechens but from Ingushetia and were later released as not having any relation to the explosions.
The official investigation was concluded in 2002. According to the Russian State Prosecutor office, all apartment bombings were executed under command of ethnic Karachay Achemez Gochiyayev. The operations were planned by Ibn al-Khattab and Abu Omar al-Saif, Arab militants fighting in Chechnya on the side of Chechen insurgents. Both Russia and USA accuse of Al-Khattab of having direct links with Al-Qaida. Gochiyayev received $500,000 from Al-Khattab to carry out the attacks.. Al-Khattab and al-Saif were later killed during the Second Chechen War. The planning was carried out in Khattab's guerilla camps in Chechnya, "Caucasus" in Shatoy and "Taliban" in Avtury, according to the prosecution. Gochiyaev's group was trained at Chechen rebel bases in the towns of Serzhen-Yurt and Urus-Martan. The group's "technical instructors" were two Arab field commanders, Abu Umar and Abu Djafar, Al-Khattab was the bombings' brainchild.
The explosives were prepared at a fertilizer factory in Urus-Martan Chechnya, by "mixing aluminium powder, nitre and sugar in a concrete mixer", or by also putting their RDX and TNT. From there they were sent to a food storage facility in Kislovodsk, which was managed by an uncle of one of the terrorists, Yusuf Krymshakhalov. Another conspirator, Ruslan Magayayev, leased a KamAZ truck in which the sacks were stored for two months. After everything was planned, the participants were organized into several groups which then transported the explosives to different cities. Most of the people participating were not ethnic Chechens.
Batchayev and Krymshakhalov admitted transporting a truckload of explosives to Moscow but said "they have never been in touch with Chechen warlords and did not know Gochiyaev". They said that someone "who posed as a jihad leader had duped them into the operation" by hiring them to transport his explosives, and they later realized this man was working for the FSB. They claimed that bombings were directed by German Ugryumov who supervised the FSB Alpha and Vympel special forces units at that time.
Two members of Gochiyayev's group that carried out the attacks, Adam Dekkushev and Yusuf Crymshamhalov, have been sentenced to life term each in a special-regime colony. Both defendants have pleaded guilty only to some of the charges. For instance, Dekkushev acknowledged that he knew the explosives he transported were to be used for an act of terror. Dekkushev also confirmed Gochiyaev's role in the attacks. Dekkushev was extradited to Russia on April 14, 2002 to stand trial, while Crymshamhalov on Dec. 7, following a special military operation in the Pankisi Gorge.
In early September, Magayayev, Krymshamkhalov, Batchayev and Dekkushev reloaded the cargo into a Mercedes trailer and delivered it to Moscow. En route, they were protected from possible complications by an accomplice called Khakim, who accompanied the trailer in another car. In Moscow they were met by Achimez Gochiayev, who registered in Hotel Altai as Laipanov, and Denis Saitakov. The explosive was left in a warehouse in Ulitsa Krasnodonskaya, which was leased by pseudo-Laipanov (Gochiayev.) The next day hexogen was delivered in Gazelle vans to three addresses – Ulitsa Guryanova, Kashirskoye Shosse and Ulitsa Borisovskiye Prudy, where pseudo-Laipanov leased cellars. Next followed the explosions at the former two addresses. The explosion at 16 Borisovskiye Prudy was prevented.
Achemez Gochiyaev, the head of the group that carried out the attacks and allegedly the main organizer, remains a fugitive, and is under an international search warrant. In a statement released in January, 2004, the FSB said, "until we arrest Gochiyayev, the investigation of the apartment bloc bombings of 1999 will not be finished."
Suspects and convictions
In September 1999, hundreds of Chechen nationals (out of more than 100,000 permanently living in Moscow) were briefly detained and interrogated in Moscow, as a wave of anti-Chechen feeling swept the city. All of them turned out to be innocent.
According to the official investigation, the following people either delivered explosives, stored them, or harbored other suspects:
Arab-born Mujahid Ibn al-Khattab who was killed by the FSB in 2002.
Moscow bombings
- Achemez Gochiyayev (An ethnic Karachai, has not been arrested; he is still at large)
- Denis Saitakov (An ethnic Tatar from Uzbekistan, killed in Georgia in 1999-2000)
- Khakim Abayev (An ethnic Karachai, killed by FSB special forces in May 2004 in Ingushetia)
- Ravil Akhmyarov (Russian citizen, Surname indicates an ethnic Tatar, killed in Chechnya in 1999-2000)
- Yusuf Krymshamkhalov (Ethnic Karachai and Resident of Kislovodsk, arrested in Georgia in December 2002, extradited to Russia and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2004, after a two-month secret trial held without a jury)
- Stanislav Lyubichev (A traffic police inspector, resident of Kislovodsk, Stavropol Krai, who helped the truck with explosives pass the checkpoint after getting a sack of sugar as a bribe, sentenced to 4 years in May 2003)
Volgodonsk bombing
- Timur Batchayev (Ethnic Karachai, killed in Georgia in the clash with police during which Krymshakhalov was arrested)
- Zaur Batchayev (Ethnic Karachai killed in Chechnya in 1999-2000)
- Adam Dekkushev (Ethnic Karachai, arrested in Georgia, threw a grenade at police during the arrest, extradited to Russia and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2004, after a two-month secret trial held without a jury)
Buinaksk bombing
- Isa Zainutdinov (Ethnic Avar and native of Dagestan, sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2001)
- Alisultan Salikhov (Ethnic Avar and native of Dagestan, sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2001)
- Magomed Salikhov (Ethnic Avar and native of Dagestan, arrested in Azerbaijan in November 2004, extradited to Russia, found not guilty on the charge of terrorism by the jury on January 24, 2006; found guilty of participating in an armed force and illegal crossing of the national border, he was retried again on the same charges on November 13, 2006 and again found not guilty, this time on all charges, including the ones he was found guilty of in the first trial. According to Kommersant Salikhov admitted that he made a delivery of paint to Dagestan for Ibn al-Khattab, although he was not sure what was really delivered.)
- Ziyavudin Ziyavudinov (Native of Dagestan, arrested in Kazakhstan, extradited to Russia, sentenced to 24 years in April 2002)
- Abdulkadyr Abdulkadyrov (Ethnic Avar and native of Dagestan, sentenced to 9 years in March 2001)
- Magomed Magomedov (Name indicates a native of Dagestan, sentenced to 9 years in March 2001)
- Zainutdin Zainutdinov (Ethnic Avar and native of Dagestan, sentenced to 3 years in March 2001 and immediately released under amnesty)
- Makhach Abdulsamedov (Native of Dagestan, sentenced to 3 years in March 2001 and immediately released under amnesty).
Attempts at independent investigation
The Russian Duma rejected two motions for parliamentary investigation of the Ryazan incident. The Duma, on a pro-Kremlin party line vote, voted to seal all materials related to the Ryazan incident for the next 75 years and forbade an investigation into what happened.
An independent public commission to investigate the bombings chaired by Duma deputy Sergei Kovalev, was rendered ineffective because of government refusal to respond to its inquiries. In 2002 and 2003 prominent members of the Kovalevs commission underlined they had no information about the initiator of the bombings, but stressed, that the theory of the FSB involvement, published in the book of Litvinenko and Felshtinsky seems to be even more doubtful than the results of the official investigation. Two key members of the Kovalev Commission, Sergei Yushenkov and Yuri Shchekochikhin, both Duma members, have since died in apparent assassinations in April 2003 and July 2003 respectively. Another member of the commission, Otto Lacis, was assaulted in November 2003 and two years later on November 3 2005, died in hospital after a car accident.
The commission of Sergei Kovalev asked lawyer Mikhail Trepashkin to investigate the case. Trepashkin found that the basement of one of the bombed buildings was rented by FSB officer Vladimir Romanovich and that the latter was witnessed by several people. However Trepashkin was unable to bring the evidence to the court because he was arrested in October 2003, allegedly for "disclosing state secrets", just a few days shortly before he was to make his findings public. He was sentenced by a military closed court to four years imprisonment. Amnesty International issued a statement that "there are serious grounds to believe that Mikhail Trepashkin was arrested and convicted under falsified criminal charges which may be politically motivated, in order to prevent him continuing his investigative and legal work related to the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities". Romanovich subsequently died in a hit and run accident in Cyprus. According to Trepashkin, his supervisors and people from the FSB promised not to arrest him if he left the Kovalev commission and started working together with the FSB "against Alexander Litvinenko". Commission chairman Kovalev summarized their findings as follows: "What can I tell? We can prove only one thing: there was no any training exercise in the city of Ryazan. Authorities do not want to answer any questions..."
It has been recognized by many observers that the case is far from being solved. Too many questions remain unanswered. On May 30, 2008, the sisters Tatyana and Alyona Morozov, former residents of the apartment block on Guryanva Street, who lost their mother in the bombing, publicly urged the newly elected Russia President Dmitry Medvedev "to order an independent, open and full investigation of these attacks", as "although these crimes were blamed on Chechen terrorists and used to justify the resumption of a full-scale war against Chechnya later that month, there are numerous indications that Russian security services may have been involved. There is also clear evidence of a cover-up by the authorities."
Theory of Russian government involvement
The bombings happened over a span of two weeks in 1999 and stopped when three FSB agents were caught by the local police while planting a similar bomb in an apartment block in the city of Ryazan. Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Rushailo congratulated citizens with preventing the terrorist act soon after the incident, but FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev declared that the incident was a training exercise, when he had learned that the FSB agents were caught. The next day, President Boris Yeltsin received a demand from 24 Russian governors to transfer all state powers to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to Yushenkov. Second Chechen War began on September 23, a week after the last bombing and a day after Ryazan incident. This war made Putin very popular, although he was previously unknown to the public, and helped him to win a landslide victory in the presidential elections on March 26 2000.
These events were a successful coup d'état organized by the FSB to bring future Russian president Vladimir Putin to power according to a theory that was put forward by writer David Satter, political scientist Vladimir Pribylovsky, historian Yuriy Felshtinsky, former FSB officer and writer Alexander Litvinenko, Russian Duma lawmaker Sergei Yushenkov, film maker Andrei Nekrasov, investigator Mikhail Trepashkin, and others. Some of them described the bombings as typical "active measures" practicised by the KGB in the past. David Satter stated during his testimony in the United States House of Representatives that:
"With Yeltsin and his family facing possible criminal prosecution, however, a plan was put into motion to put in place a successor who would guarantee that Yeltsin and his family would be safe from prosecution and the criminal division of property in the country would not be subject to reexamination. For “Operation Successor” to succeed, however, it was necessary to have a massive provocation. In my view, this provocation was the bombing in September, 1999 of the apartment building bombings in Moscow, Buinaksk, and Volgodonsk. In the aftermath of these attacks, which claimed 300 lives, a new war was launched against Chechnya. Putin, the newly appointed prime minister who was put in charge of that war, achieved overnight popularity. Yeltsin resigned early. Putin was elected president and his first act was to guarantee Yeltsin immunity from prosecution."
According to the book by Felshtinsky and Pribylovsky, the September 4 terrorist attack in Buynaksk was probably conducted by a sabotage unit of twelve Russian GRU officers who acted on the orders of Colonel-General Valentin Korabelnikov. They referred to the testimony of GRU officer Aleksey Galkin. According to this version, all other attacks were organized by FSB forces based on the following chain of command: "Putin (former director of the secret service, future president) - Patrushev (Putin's successor as director of the secret service) - secret service General German Ugryumov (director of the counter-terrorism department)." FSB officers Vladimir Romanovich, Ramazan Dyshenkov and others directly carried out the bombings. Several Chechens were recruited by FSB agents to deliver explosives disguised as bags of sugar to Volgodonsk and Moscow: Adam Dekkushev, Yusuf Krymshamkhalov, and Timur Batchaev. The Chechens believed that apartment buildings were merely temporarily storage places, and that the explosives would be used against federal military targets. Ethnic Karachai Achemez Gochiyaev rented the apartment basements as storage spaces on request from FSB agent Ramazan Dyshenkov. On January 18 2003, Yuri Felshtinsky provided Novaya Gazeta with a video recording and its transcript. The video dated August 20 2002, contained an interview with main suspect of the case Achemez Gochiyayev. According to Gochiyayev, he was an unknowing participant in a plot organized by an undercover FSB agent, his former acquaintance Ramazan Dyshekov.
The theory of FSB involvement has been described in several books and documentaries, including Darkness at Dawn by American writer and scholar David Satter. He wrote before publishing the book that, if the theory is confirmed, Putin's government is not legitimate since it came to power due to staged terrorism acts. The BBC Channel 4 programme Dispatches report Dying for the President, screened on March 9, 2000, and a subsequent article in The Observer also alleged that their journalists put Russian "secret police in frame for Moscow atrocities". Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko and historian Yuri Felshtinsky published the book Blowing up Russia: Terror from within about the Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts that have been allegedly committed by Russian State Security Services to justify the Second Chechen War and bring Vladimir Putin to power. On December 29 2003, Russian authorities confiscated over 5000 copies of the book en route to Moscow from the publisher in Latvia. In a subsequent book, Lubyanka Criminal Group, Litvinenko and Alexander Goldfarb described the transformation of the FSB into a criminal and terrorist organization.
A documentary film, Assassination of Russia, was made in 2000 by two French producers who had previously worked with NTV on NTV's Sugar of Ryazan program. This film was broadcast by the main TV channels of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Russian Deputy Yuri Rybakov brought a hundred copies to St. Petersburg, but the copies were confiscated at customs, in violation of his parliamentary immunity. No TV station in Russia was able to show the film. However tens of thousands of pirate copies were sold in Russia in 2002. On April 23, 2002, Sergei Yushenkov brought to Washington, D.C., a box with copies of "Assassination of Russia". He tried to convince U.S. administration that bombings were committed by the FSB, however there were no official statements. A staffer in Senate Foreign Relations Committee explained: "We just cannot go out and say that the president of Russia is a mass murderer. But it is important that we know it." A documentary Nedoverie ("Disbelief") about the bombing controversy made by Russian director Andrei Nekrasov was premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. The film chronicles the story of Tatyana and Alyona Morozova, the two Russian-American sisters, who had lost their mother in the attack, and decided to find out who did it. Alexander Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko have published a book Death of a Dissident. They asserted that the murder of Litvineko by Russian agents was "the most compelling proof" of the FSB involvement theory. According to the book, the murder of Litvineko "gave credence to all his previous theories, delivering justice for the tenants of the bombed apartment blocks, the Moscow theater-goers, Sergei Yushenkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, and Anna Politkovskaya, and the half-exterminated nation of Chechnya, exposing their killers for the whole world to see." Litvinenko' books and the movies Assassination of Russia and Disbelief were sponsored by a controversial self-exiled Russian tycoon and Putin ally-turned-enemy Boris Berezovsky. Co-author of the Gang from Lubyanka and Death of a Dissident Alexander Goldfarb is an executive director of International Foundation for Civil Liberties (established by Berezovsky) since November 2000. David Satter heavily relies on research sponsored by Berezovsky in his book.
Russian writer Alexander Prokhanov authored a political thriller Mr. Hexogen which describes the bombings as a "chekist electoral technique". Russian author and businessman Yuli Dubov, author of The Big Slice, wrote a novel The Lesser Evil, based on the bombings. The main characters of the story are Platon (Boris Berezovsky) and Larry (Badri Patarkatsishvili). They struggle against an evil KGB officer, Old man (apparently inspired by the legendary Philipp Bobkov), who brings another KGB officer, Fedor Fedorovich (Vladimir Putin) to power by staging a series of apartment bombings.
Criticism
According to Russia's official investigation, Caucasian separatists were responsible for the bombings. The FSB said the Ryazan bomb was a dummy, planted by security officers as part of a secret civil defense drill, the sacks being filled with sugar. The purpose of the terrorist acts was to distract attention of Russian authorities from the battles in Dagestan between the federal forces and rebels, including Chechens and headed by Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab. Basayev and Khattab invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan on August 7 1999, in support of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The bombings and the invasion prompted Russian authorities to break the Khasav-Yurt Accord, even though the invasion was opposed by Aslan Maskhadov. An FSB spokesman said that "Litvinenko's evidence cannot be taken seriously by those who are investigating the bombings".
Sergei Markov, an advisor to the Russian government, criticized the film Assassination of Russia which supported the FSB involvement theory. Markov said that the film was "a well-made professional example of the propagandist and psychological war that Boris Berezovsky is notoriously good at." Markov found parallels between the film and the conspiracy theory that the United States and/or Israel organized the 9/11 attacks to justify military actions.
Professor Richard Sakwa has commented on the claims of Berezovsky and Litvinenko, that the evidence they presented was at best circumstanstial.
According to researcher Gordon Bennett, the conspiracy theory that FSB was behind explosions is kept alive by the Russian oligarch and Kremlin-critic Boris Berezovsky. Bennett points out, that neither Berezovsky nor his team (which includes Alexander Litvinenko) have provided any evidence to support their claims. In the BBC World Hard Talk interview on 8 May 2002, Berezovsky was also not able to present any evidence for his claims, and also did not suggest he was in possession of such evidence which he would be ready to present in a court.. Bennett also points out, that it is occasionally forgotten by Putin's critics, that the decision to send troops to Chechnya was taken by Boris Yeltin - not Vladimir Putin - with the wholehearted support of all power structures.
Dr Vlad Sobell has pointed out, that the proponents of the theory that the second invasion of Chechnya was a plot by Putin to get elected regularly ignore the key fact, that Putin's attack on Chechnya in 1999 was preceded by Chechen insurrection in Dagestan, whose objective was to turn it into another unstable Chechnya.
According to professor Peter Reddaway and researcher Dmitri Glinski, the involvement of the Liberation army of Dagestan is the most likely explanation for the attacks.
According to Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Henry E. Hale of Hardvard Univeristy, one thing that remains unclear about the "FSB did it" theory: If the motive was to get an FSB-friendly man installed as president, why would the FSB have preferred Putin, a little-known "upstart" who had leapt to the post of FSB director through outside political channels, to Primakov, who was certainly senior in stature and pedigree and who was also widely reputed to have a KGB past?
A year after the apartment bombings, on 8 August, 2000, another explosion happened in Moscow. Eight people were killed and more than 50 were injured. Chechen separatists were widely blamed for the blast. One of Russia's heavyweight papers, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, argued the blast lifted any suspicion that the now-president Putin had anything to do with the apartment-block bombs in 1999. "The explosion in Pushkin Square has dispelled all speculation in this respect", the paper wrote, adding that one can only imagine what the public's reaction will be after the newest blast.
Support
U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John McCain said that there remained "credible allegations that Russia's FSB had a hand in carrying out these attacks". Popular Russian politician and retired army general Alexander Lebed, at the time the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, asked if he thought the government had organized the terrorist attacks, said that he is "almost convinced of it."
Some publications tell that "being prone to conspiracy theories, as Russians certainly are, doesn’t mean that someone is not conspiring against them". The director of the Nixon Center Paul Saunders commented that Putin's willingness to shut down the Novaya Gazeta could be understood because "most dismiss the involvement of the Russian government in the apartment bombings as an unsupported conspiracy theory though it has received widespread attention". British author and journalist Vanora Bennett said that although "it sounds far-fetched at first",
- "remember that the FSB is simply the renamed KGB, whose raison d'etre for decades was essentially institutional terror in the service of the government. Putin is himself an ex-KGB man, and he has twice blocked, through the Duma, any independent investigation into the bombings. No evidence of Chechen involvement has ever been forthcoming, and the Chechen groups have claimed that they were not responsible - although they admit to other acts of violence. The Ryazan "training exercise" excuse is preposterous. It does seem to suggest that the Russian secret services were caught red-handed".
Former KGB colonel Konstantin Preobrazhensky said that "Litvinenko's accusations are not unfounded. Chechen rebels were incapable of organising a series of bombings without help from high-ranking Moscow officials."
GRU defector and author Viktor Suvorov said that the Litvinenko's book Lubyanka Criminal Group describes "a leading criminal group that provides "protection" for all other organized crime in the country and which continues the criminal war against their own people", like their predecessors NKVD and KGB. He added:
"The book proves: Lubyanka was taken over by enemies of the people. (Is it possible to call them friends of people, them who put their own people on the needle and blow up sleeping children?). If Putin's team can not disprove the facts provided by Litvinenko, Putin must shoot himself. Patrushev and all other leadership of Lubyanka Criminal Group must follow his example."
Neutral stance
A summary of a conference at Princeton University concluded that although "the Russian leadership has exploited the tragedy of the bombings for political purposes", there is no convincing proof of any version, including the "Chechen guilt" or "the 'conspiracy theory' that ties responsibility to the Russian FSB (the successor to the KGB)."
Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer noted: "The FSB accused Khattab and Gochiyaev, but oddly they did not point the finger at Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov's regime, which is what the war was launched against."
In his book Inside Putin's Russia, Andrew Jack, former Moscow bureau chief for the Financial Times, mentions several aspects in favor and against the conspiracy theory.
Chronology of events
- June 6 1999: Swedish journalist Jan Blomgren wrote in Svenska Dagbladet about "a series of terror bombings in Moscow that could be blamed on the Chechens."
- July 22 1999: Newspaper Moskovskaya Pravda described an operation "Storm in Moscow", which included organizing terrorist acts by Russian security services to justify emergency rule and save the Yeltsin regime.
- September 4 1999: Bombing in Buynaksk, 64 people killed, 133 are injured.
- September 9 1999: Bombing in Moscow, Pechatniki, 94 people are killed, 249 are injured.
- September 13 1999: Bombing in Moscow, Kashirskoye highway, 118 are killed. Another bomb was defused and a warehouse containing several tons of explosives and six timing devices was found in Moscow. Russian Duma speaker Gennadiy Seleznyov made an announcement about bombing of an apartment building in the city of Volgodonsk that took place only three days later, on September 16.
- September 16 1999: Bombing in Volgodonsk, 18 are killed, 288 injured.
- September 23 1999: An apartment bomb was found in the city of Ryazan. Vladimir Rushailo announced that police prevented a terrorist act. Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the citizens and called for air attacks on Grozny.
- September 24 1999: FSB agents who planted the bomb in Ryazan were caught by local police. Nikolai Patrushev declared that the incident was a training exercise.
See also
References
- Moscow Bombing: The Chechen conflict - Tens of thousands of deaths, Independent on Sunday, Jul 6, 2003
- http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2794465
- David Satter - House committee on Foreign Affairs David Satter. Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State. Yale University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09892-8, pages 24-33 and 63-71. The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Pribylovsky and Yuri Felshtinsky, Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6; pages 105-111. Video on YouTubeIn Memoriam Aleksander Litvinenko, Jos de Putter, Tegenlicht documentary VPRO 2007, Moscow, 2004 Interview with Anna Politkovskaya. Russian Federation: Amnesty International's concerns and recommendations in the case of Mikhail Trepashkin - Amnesty International Template:Ru icon Litvinenko's details on apartment bombings in Moscow, an interview with Sergei Kovalev, radio Echo of Moscow, July 25, 2002, computer translation Bomb Blamed in Fatal Moscow Apartment Blast, Richard C. Paddock, Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1999 At least 90 dead in Moscow apartment blast, from staff and wire reports, CNN, September 10, 1999 The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union?, p.81, Matthew Evangelista, pub. Brookings Institution Press, 2002, ISBN 0815724993, ISBN 9780815724995 Did Putin's Agents Plant the Bombs?, Jamie Dettmer, Insight on the News, April 17, 2000.
- ^ David Satter. Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State. Yale University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09892-8, pages 24-33 and 63-71.
- ^ Alex Goldfarb, with Marina Litvinenko Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB, The Free Press, 2007, ISBN 1-416-55165-4
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/434794.stm
- ^ 6 Convicted in Russia Bombing That Killed 68
- ^ Russia hit by new Islamic offensive
- Vladimir Putin and his corporate gangsters
- Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin, Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6, pages 105-111. The interview was given on 14 January, 2000
- ^ Russia mourns blast victims
- Darkness at Dawn, page 65
- ^ Dr Mark Smith, A Russian Chronology July 1999 - Semtember 1999
- Dozens dead in Moscow blast
- Death of a Dissident, page 264
- ^ Russia hits back over blasts claims
- «Я Хочу Рассказать О Взрывах Жилых Домов»
- Achemez Gochiyaev: I’ve been framed up by a FSB agent by Prima News, July 25, 2002
- Achimez Gochiyayev: Russia’s Terrorist Enigma Returns, by Andrew McGregor,Jamestown Foundation.
- ^ ANOTHER BOMBING KILLS 18 IN RUSSIA
- ^ The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Pribylovsky and Yuri Felshtinsky, Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6; pages 105-111.
- Template:Ru icon ORT newscast on 23.09.99, at 09:00
- "Death of a dissident", page 196
- Russia's terrorist bombings, WorldNetDaily, January 27, 2000
- The Shadow of Ryazan Is Putin’s government legitimate?, National Review Online, April 30, 2002
- Williams, Bryan Glyn (2001). The Russo-Chechen War: A Threat to Stability in the Middle East and Eurasia?. Middle East Policy 8.1.
- Russian Says Kremlin Faked 'Terror Attacks'
- Template:Ru icon ФСБ взрывает Россию. ФСБ против народа, Alexander Litvinenko, Yuri Felshtinsky, Novaya Gazeta, August 27, 2001
- Caucasus Ka-Boom, Miriam Lanskoy, 8 November 2000, Johnson's Russia List, Issue 4630
- "Death of a dissident", page 198
- ^ Template:Ru icon Two life sentences for 246 murders, Kommersant, January 13, 2004. (Russian:"в бетономешалке изготовила смесь из сахара, селитры и алюминиевой пудры"
- ^ Only one explosions suspect still free, Kommersant, December 10, 2002.
- Tamil Guerrillas in Sri Lanka: Deadly and Armed to the Teeth
- Template:Ru icon Специалист по утилизации взрывчатки похитил 11 килограммов гексогена, MVD, 19.07.2003
- Template:Ru icon Завод Пластмасс
- Template:Ru icon Борис Березовский нашел тонну гексогена, Gazeta, March 5 2002
- p.95, Chechnya: From Past To Future, Richard Sakwa, pub. Anthem Press, 2005, ISBN 184331164X, 9781843311645
- C.W. Blandy p. 42
- Answer of the General Prosecutor's office on the deputy request (on explosions in Moscow)
- " The Shadow of Ryazan: Is Putin's government legitimate?", David Satter, National Review, April 30, 2002.
- "The Age of Assassins", pages 127-129
- ^ "Death of a Dissident", page 265
- HAUNTING YUSHENKOV LECTURE BROADCAST, The Jamestown Foundation, June 12, 2003
- CDI
- Template:Ru icon Геннадия Селезнева предупредили о взрыве в Волгодонске за три дня до теракта ("Gennadiy Seleznyov was warned of the Volgodonsk explosion three days in advance"), NewsRu.com, 21 March 2002
- Vladimir Zhirinovsky said in Russian Duma: "Remember Gennadiy Nikolaevich how you told us that a house has been blown up in Volgodonsk, three days prior to the blast? How should we interpret this? The State Duma knows that the house was destroyed on Monday, and it has indeed been blown up on Thursday ... How come... the state authorities of Rostov region were not warned in advance , although it was reported to us? Everyone is sleeping, the house was destroyed three days later, and now we must take urgent measures..." .
- ^ "Darkness at Dawn", page 269.
- Template:Ru icon Reply of the Public Prosecutor Office of the Russian Federation to a deputy inquiry
- "Death of a Dissident", page 266
- ^ "Darkness at Dawn", page 267
- "Darkness at Dawn", page 63
- The Age of Assassins, page 109
- ^ Template:Ru icon Results of the investigation of explosions in Moscow and Volgodonsk and an incident in Ryazan. The answer of the Russian state Prosecutor office to the inquiry of Gosduma member A. Kulikov, circa March 2002.
- Chechens 'confirm' warlord's death
- Russia hits back over blasts claims
- RUSSIA: THE FSB VOWS TO CAPTURE THE REMAINING CO-CONSPIRATORS IPR Strategic Business Information Database. 2004-01-13
- Two life sentences for 246 murders, Kommersant, January 13, 2004. (Russian:"в бетономешалке изготовила смесь из сахара, селитры и алюминиевой пудры"
- Hexogen trail, Novaya Gazeta, 09.12.2002
- ^ Apartment houses-blasts defendants sentenced to life imprisonment
- Agence France-Presse September 8, 2002 Alleged suspect for 1999 bombings hiding in Georgia: Russian FSB CORRECTION: ATTENTION - ADDS background
- DOCUMENTS AND TESTIMONIES
- Convicted Terrorists Sentenced to Long Prison Terms
- Chechens rounded up in Moscow, The Guardian, September 18 1999
- ^ ACHIMEZ GOCHIYAYEV: RUSSIA’S TERRORIST ENIGMA RETURNS
- Gochiyayev's wanted page on FSB web site
- Russia: Grasping the Reality of Nuclear Terror
- Putin’s defense sector appointees
- Karachayev terrorists found in the morgue, Kommersant, June 8, 2004.
- Процесс о взрывах жилых домов: адвокат Адама Деккушева просит его полного оправдания
- ^ Court starts hearings into 'hexogen case'
- http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/094.htm Separatists Tied to '99 Bombings.
- Two life sentences for 246 murders, Kommersant, January 13, 2004.
- A terrorist has imprisoned a policeman, Kommersant, May 15, 2003.
- ^ ПРИЧАСТНЫЕ К ВЗРЫВАМ В МОСКВЕ УСТАНОВЛЕНЫ, FSB website
- NEWS FROM RUSSIA",Vol.VI, Issue No.18, dated 1st May 2003
- ^ Disrupting Escalation of Terror in Russia to Prevent Catastrophic Attacks
- ^ Buinaksk terrorists sentenced to life, Kommersant, March 20, 2001.
- Suspect in 1999 Buinaksk bombing brought to Russia, Jurist, November 13, 2004
- Jury acquitted a Buinaksk suspect, Lenta.Ru, 2006 Jan 24.
- Jury acquitted a Buinaksk suspect again, Lenta.Ru, 2006 November 13.
- Khattab said: Your task is small, Kommersant, November 13, 2006.
- One More Participant of Terrorist Act in Buinaksk, Dagestan, Detained in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
- They should be blown up, not put on trial, Kommersant, April 10, 2002
- Duma Rejects Move to Probe Ryazan Apartment Bomb, Terror-99, 21 March 2000
- Duma Vote Kills Query On Ryazan, The Moscow Times, 4 April 2000
- Putin critic loses post, platform for inquiry, The Baltimore Sun, 11 December 2003
- Russian court rejects action over controversial "anti-terrorist exercise", Interfax, 3 April 2003
- Template:Ru icon Litvinenko's details on apartment bombings in Moscow, an interview with Sergei Kovalev, radio Echo of Moscow, July 25, 2002, computer translation
- Chronology of events. State Duma Deputy Yushenkov shot dead, Centre for Russian Studies, 17 April 2003
- Worries Linger as Schekochikhin's Laid to Rest, The Moscow Times, 7 July 2003
- Template:Ru icon В Москве жестоко избит Отто Лацис, NewsRU, 11 November 2003
- Template:Ru icon Скончался известный российский журналист Отто Лацис, November 3 2005
- For Trepashkin, Bomb Trail Leads to Jail, The Moscow Times, January 14, 2004
- Russian Ex-Agent's Sentencing Called Political Investigator was about to release a report on 1999 bombings when he was arrested, The Los Angeles Times, 20/05/2004
- Russian Federation: Amnesty International calls for Mikhail Trepashkin to be released pending a full review of his case
- Template:Ru icon Interview with Mikhail Trepashkin, RFE/RL, December 1, 2007. "давай вместе работать против Литвиненко и уйди из комиссии по взрывам домов и тогда тебя никто не тронет. Я говорил со своими шефами, совершенно точно, тебя не тронут. Кончай с Ковалевым Сергеем Адамовичем контактировать в Госдуме и так далее."
- ^ Template:Ru icon The bombing case. Victims ask the president to resume the investigation (Russian), RFE/RL, June 2, 2008
- Dear President Medvedev By TATYANA MOROZOV and ALYONA MOROZOV Wall Street Journal May 30, 2008.
- Sergei Yushenkov: That was a coup in 1999.
- David Satter. Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State. Yale University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09892-8.
- Satter House Testimony, 2007.
- "Our group prepared diversions in Chechnya and Dagestan", Testimony of Senior Lieutenant Alexei Galkin, November 1999.
- Template:Ru icon [http://2005.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2005/18n/n18n-s08.shtml «Я ХОЧУ РАССКАЗАТЬ О ВЗРЫВАХ ЖИЛЫХ ДОМОВ» Мое имя Ачемез ГОЧИЯЕВ. Есть приказ живым меня не брать…], Novaya Gazeta, 14.03.2005
- ^ The Shadow of Ryazan
- Britain's Observer newspaper suggests Russian secret service involvement in Moscow bombings, By Julie Hyland 15 March 2000
- ^ Johann Hari. "Conspiracy theories: a guide". New Statesman. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- Russian editor questioned over seizure of controversial book
- ^ Death of a Dissident, pages 249-250.
- Death of a Dissident, pages 259.
- Screening Horror; A new film seeks the truth behind the 1999 bombings., The Moscow Times]
- Disbelief. The record in IMDb.
- Disbelief - 1999 Russia Bombings Google Video
- Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB, The Free Press (2007) ISBN 1-416-55165-4
- Boris Berezovsky organized "Assassination of Russia"
- 'Orange Plague' Kills Concert
- BEREZOVSKY THREATENS TO OPEN PANDORA'S BOX...
- The Litvinenko Case
- Re: 7727 #11, Jeremy Putley's review of "Darkness at Dawn" by D. Satter
- The Age of Assassins, page 183
- Gospodin Geksogen' ('Mr. Hexogen'), by Dr. Alexandr Nemets and Dr. Thomas Torda, NewsMax
- Template:Ru icon Новый роман Юлия Дубова о приходе к власти Владимира Путина, RFE/RL, 19-02-05
- ^ Olga Nedbayeva. "Conspiracy theories on Russia's 1999 bombings gain ground". Agence France-Presse.
- "Assassination of Russia"- Film Screening and Panel Discussion, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, April 24 2002.
- Sakwa, Richard (2008). Putin, Russia's choice (2nd ed.). Routledge. pp. 333–334. ISBN 978-0-415-40765-6.
{{cite book}}: Check|authorlink=value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Vladimir Putin & Russia's Special Services Gordon Bennet, 2002
- Vlad Sobell on 'confusing Russia'
- ^ Origins of United Russia and the Putin Presidency: The Role of Contingency in Party-System Development
- ^ Press draw lessons from Moscow blast
- McCain Decries, November 4, 2003, Friends of John McCain.
- Articles on Russia & Chechnya
- The Security Organs of the Russian Federation (Part III) by Jonathan Littell
- Steven Lee Myers. "The New York Times". Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- Paul J. Saunders (2000-05-09). "Russian Villain or Hero?". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- "From Russia with secrets". Times Online. May 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- Why United States have no "external intelligence", by Victor Suvorov
- "The Crisis In Chechnya: Causes, Prospects, Solutions" (PDF). Princeton University. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- Andrew Jack. Inside Putin's Russia: Can There Be Reform Without Democracy?. Oxford University Press.
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External links
- Full Text of Robert Young Pelton's 1999 interview with GRU officer Alexei Viktorovich Galkin in Grozny
- "Poisoned spy defiant in final interview before his death". Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor, The Times, November 23, 2006
- "The Shadow of Ryazan: Who Was Behind the Strange Russian Apartment Bombings in September 1999?", David Satter, Hudson Institute, April 19, 2002
- "Fear of Doing the Boss a Disservice", The Moscow Times, April 11, 2002, p. 8
- "'Gospodin Geksogen' ('Mr. Hexogen')", Dr. Alexandr Nemets and Dr. Thomas Torda, NewsMax.com, July 19, 2002
- "'Mr. Hexogen' (Continued)", Dr. Alexandr Nemets and Dr. Thomas Torda, NewsMax.com, July 23, 2002
- U.S. Grants Alyona Morozova Political Asylum, The Jamestown Foundation, January 19, 2005
- The blasts which shook Russia, BBC News, August 10, 2000
- Timeline: Terrorism in Russia, CNN, February 6, 2004
- The Terror of 9/99: Fact Sheet
- Template:Ru icon "Assassination of Russia" — "Покушение на Россию" A 52-minute documentary (in Russian), using footage originally shot by NTV is available for downloading from this site. The film examines Russian apartment bombings and focuses on the foiled bombing in Ryazan. It can be viewed in English online via an Indymedia upload. The script in English is available on Yuri Felshtinsky's website.
- Template:Ru icon Приговор Крымшамхалову и Деккушеву
- Template:Ru icon The request of the Chairman of the public inquiry committee Kovalyov to the Director of FSB, translation, April 8, 2002
- Template:Ru icon The answer of the Secretary of the Director of FSB to the Kovalyov's request, May 8, 2002
- Template:Ru icon The answer of the General Prosecutor office to the request of the Duma member Kulikov, Spring, 2002
- Template:Ru icon Journalist investigation by Novaya Gazeta
- Template:Ru icon 'Disbelief' by Andrei Nekrasov — documentary about Moscow Apartment Bombings (Google Video)
- Template:Ru icon The Operation "Successor" by Vladimir Pribylovsky and Yuriy Felshtinsky
- Template:Ru icon Четыре туза
- Template:Ru icon Террористы всегда платили наличными
- Template:Ru icon Взрывы в Москве