A series of three
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
bombings in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
on 8 January 1977 killed seven people and seriously injured 37 others. No one claimed responsibility for the bombings, although three members of an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
organization were
executed
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
early in 1979 after a
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
investigation and a secret trial. Some
Soviet dissidents said that the suspects had an
alibi.
Soon after the event
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Physics, physicist and a List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world.
Alt ...
issued a public appeal, expressing concern that the bombings might "be a new provocation on the part of the organs of repression". According to historian
Jay Bergman, "who actually caused the explosion has never been determined conclusively".
Bombings
On 8 January 1977, three
bombs
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-tra ...
were
detonate
Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves wit ...
d in Moscow.
The first exploded at 17:33 on a crowded train between the
Izmailovskaya and
Pervomaiskaya stations of the
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
.
At 18:05, the second bomb detonated inside a
grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...
close to
KGB headquarters. Five minutes later, the third bomb exploded near another grocery store on 25 October Street, just a few hundred meters away from the headquarters of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
.
At that moment, and for the next two months, there was little public information about the explosions. The TASS news agency reported on 10 January 1977 that the explosion was not of great force, "medical help was given to those suffering injury, and an investigation is being conducted". Later, at meetings of Party activists, it was said that not long before the explosion in the underground on 8 January there had been two other explosions on 25 October Street.
[''Chronicle of Current Events'', 44.15, "Concerning the explosions in Moscow" (15 March 1977)](_blank)
Only on 8 February 1979, after the trial and
execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...
of the three
convicted
In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...
men, did a letter to ''
Izvestia
''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...
'', the official newspaper of the
Soviet government
The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest body of state authority, the All-Union Supreme Soviet. It was formed on 30 December 1922 and abolished on 26 December 199 ...
, indicate that the attacks had killed seven people
and injured 37.
[ ''Chronicle of Current Events'', 52.1, "The case of the explosions on the underground" (1 March 1979)](_blank)
Investigation and trial
An initial suspect, named Potapov, was arrested in
Tambov
Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...
after setting off a bomb which killed his neighbour's wife and two daughters. After being arrested, Potapov confessed that he was also behind the acts of terrorism in Moscow. However, this turned out to have been a
forced confession
A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture (including enhanced interrogation techniques) or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in rev ...
, and after an investigation lasting one month, this lead was dropped by KGB operatives.
In October 1977, at
Tashkent Airport, a KGB officer noticed a woman carrying a bag similar to a reconstructed picture of a bomb sent by the KGB to all local branches.
It was discovered that these bags were manufactured only in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
.
In November 1977,
Stepan Zatikyan, a founding member of a splinter group of the
National United Party, an underground Armenian nationalist organization, was arrested. His
accomplices, Zaven Bagdasaryan and Hakop Stepanyan, were also taken into custody
after an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a bomb at the
Kursky Rail Terminal in Moscow.
A
secret trial
A secret trial is a trial that is not open to the public or generally reported in the news, especially any in-trial proceedings. Generally, no official record of the case or the judge's verdict is made available. Often there is no indictment.
S ...
followed. Zatikyan, Stepanyan, and Bagdasaryan were all found guilty on 24 January 1978 and executed five days later.
The Supreme Court issued a brief statement, dated 31 January 1979, after the trial and execution, naming Zatikyan alone as the perpetrator.
According to KGB general
Philip Bobkov, any publications in Armenia about the bombings were blocked by
Karen Demirchyan, the head of Soviet Armenia.
Alleged KGB involvement
The 8 January 1977 bombings occurred during systematic reprisals by the Soviet authorities against the Helsinki Groups in Moscow,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, set up to monitor the USSR's observance of the
Helsinki Accords
The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, betwee ...
.
On 10 January 1977, Soviet journalist
Victor Louis (Vitaly Yevgenyevich Lui), a well-known KGB
agent provocateur
An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups.
In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...
, published an article in a British newspaper, hinting at the involvement of Soviet dissidents in the bombings. Several
dissident
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...
s, including Vladimir Albrekht, the secretary of the Soviet branch of
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
, were threatened and
interrogated by the KGB. (Soviet dissident
Alexander Tarasov claimed to have been interrogated by a KGB investigator who tried to "convince" him that he was involved in the bombing. Without his strong alibi – he was confined at a hospital at the time of the bombings – "it would be me who was executed instead of Zatikyan", he said.) In response
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Physics, physicist and a List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world.
Alt ...
wrote an "Appeal to world community", in which he requested an impartial investigation and suggested that the bombings might have been arranged by the KGB itself to discredit the entire
Soviet dissident movement.
… I cannot rid myself of the hunch that the explosion in the Moscow underground and the tragic deaths of individuals are a new provocation on the part of the organs of repression, and the most dangerous of recent years. Precisely this hunch, and the fears connected with it that this provocation could lead to changes in the whole internal climate of the country, have prompted me to write this article. I would be very glad if my thoughts turned out to be wrong …
In an exchange with the deputy
procurator general, he added, "I have serious grounds for concern. This is the provocation article in ''
London Evening News'' by Victor Lui. These are arrests and interrogations of people who are clearly not related to the bombings. These are murders of last months, probably committed by the KGB which were not investigated. It is enough to mention only two of them: murder of poet Konstantin Bogatyrev and murder of lawyer Evgeni Brunov." After this statement, Sakharov was not only attacked in Soviet newspapers but also received threats by phone. Several people tried to break into his apartment, claiming to be relatives of those killed in the metro.
According to former KGB colonel
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky (; 10 October 1938 – 4 March 2025) was a colonel of the KGB who became KGB resident-designate (''rezident'') and bureau chief in London.
Gordievsky was a double agent, providing information to the British Secret ...
, the three
Armenians
Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
were selected as
scapegoat
In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
s for this terrorist act. He wrote, "The case that most alarmed the KGB was the bombing of the Moscow subway by Armenian separatists in 1977. Three Armenians were later shot. It was rumored in the Center that, when the KGB and militia failed to track down those responsible, three other Armenian separatists had been selected as scapegoats in order to demonstrate that terrorists would always be caught and punished."
In 1982, historians
Michel Heller and
Alexander Nekrich asserted Zatikyan, Stepanyan, and Bagdasaryan had an alibi supported by multiple witnesses, and their execution was the first political execution in the Soviet Union after the death of
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
.
[ M. Heller and A. Nekrich, ''History of Russia 1917–1995''; seven volumes; London, 1982,]
Russian text online
Quote (Russian): "армянские националисты были приговорены к смертной казни закрытым судом и несмотря на то, что алиби обвиняемых было подтверждено многими свидетелями." (Armenian nationalists had been sentenced to death in a closed trial, and despite the fact that the alibi of the accused has been confirmed by many witnesses)
The Armenian
dissident
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...
Sergei Grigoryants said in 2016 that KGB chief
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...
and
Philipp Bobkov were responsible for the bombings.
Sakharov's letter to Brezhnev
On 30 January 1979, A. D. Sakharov wrote a letter to L. I. Brezhnev, about the trial of the three Armenian suspects:
There are strong grounds for fearing that a deliberate frame-up or a judicial mistake is taking place in this case. Zatikyan was not in Moscow at the time of the underground explosion — many witnesses can confirm his alibi. The investigation did not show any interest in clarifying this or other important circumstances. The trial, totally unnecessarily, was closed and secret, and even relatives did not know that it was taking place. Such a trial, in which the principle of openness is totally disregarded, cannot determine the truth.
I appeal to you to stop the death sentence being carried out on all the accused in this case, and to demand a new inquiry from the investigative and court organs.
On 1 February 1979, the
Moscow Helsinki Group
The Moscow Helsinki Group (also known as the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, ) was one of Russia's leading human rights organisations. It was originally set up in 1976 to monitor Soviet compliance with the Helsinki Accords and to report to the West ...
made an official statement on the execution of Zatikyan and two unnamed individuals, stating, "The lack of transparency and the whole atmosphere of secrecy give reasons to doubt the validity of charges, objectivity and impartiality of the court".
One consequence was the 8 February 1979 letter to Izvestia, denouncing Sakharov and other rights activists as "defenders of murderers".
See also
*
2010 Moscow Metro bombings
*
Armenian parliament shooting
The 1999 Armenian parliament shooting, commonly known in Armenia as October 27 (), was a Terrorism, terrorist attack on the Armenian National Assembly (Armenia), National Assembly in the capital of Yerevan on 27 October 1999 by a group of five a ...
*
August 2004 Moscow Metro bombing
The August 2004 Moscow metro bombing took place at about 20:17 MSK on 31 August 2004, when a female suicide bomber blew herself up outside Rizhskaya (Moscow Metro), Rizhskaya metro station, killing at least 10 people and wounding 50.
The offic ...
*
February 2004 Moscow Metro bombing
*
List of attacks by ASALA
*
List of Turkish diplomats assassinated by Armenian militant organisations
*
Russian apartment bombings
In September 1999, a series of explosions hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk, killing more than 300, injuring more than 1,000, and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings, toget ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moscow bombings, 1977
1977 in international relations
Bombings
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanic ...
1977 murders in Europe
1970s trials
20th-century mass murder in Russia
1977 building bombings
1977 bombings
Attacks on shops in Europe
Building bombings in Russia
1977 bombings
Improvised explosive device bombings in 1977
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
1977 crimes
January 1977
January 1977 in Europe
Mass murder in 1977
1977 bombings
Murder trials
Soviet show trials
False flag operations
Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1977
Terrorist incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1970s
Terrorist incidents on subterranean rapid transit
Train bombings in Europe
1970s murders in Russia
1977 murders in the Soviet Union
Terrorist attacks attributed to Armenian militant groups