The Moscow theater hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater 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 ...
by
Chechen terrorists on 23 October 2002, resulting in the taking of 912 hostages. The attackers, led by
Movsar Barayev, claimed allegiance to the
Islamist separatist movement in Chechnya.
They demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from
Chechnya
Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
and an end to the
Second Chechen War
Names
The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...
. The crisis was resolved when Russian security services released
sleeping gas
Incapacitating agent is a chemical or biological agent which renders a person unable to harm themselves or others, regardless of consciousness.
Lethal agents are primarily intended to kill, but incapacitating agents can also kill if administered ...
into the building, and subsequently stormed it, killing all 40 hostage takers. 132 hostages died, largely due to the effects of the gas.
Due to the layout of the theater, special forces would have had to fight through of corridor and advance up a well-defended staircase before they could reach the hall in which the hostages were held. The attackers had numerous explosives, with the most powerful in the center of the
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
.
Spetsnaz
SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...
operators from
Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
(FSB)
Alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...
and
Vympel
Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is a stand-alone su ...
, supported by a
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; , ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enforcement in Russia through its agencies the Police of Russia, Migratio ...
(MVD)
SOBR
The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR (), from 2002 to 2011 known as OMSN (''Otryad Militsii Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya'', Special Police Unit), is a spetsnaz unit of the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya).With their military equipmen ...
unit, pumped a chemical agent into the building's
ventilation
Ventilation may refer to:
* Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation
** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing
*** Respirator, a ma ...
system and began the rescue operation.
The identity of the gas was not disclosed at the time, although it was believed to have been a
fentanyl
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...
derivative.
A study published in 2012 concluded that it had been a mixture of
carfentanil
Carfentanil or carfentanyl, formerly sold under the brand name Wildnil, is an extremely potent opioid analgesic used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. It is a structural analogue of the ...
and
remifentanil
Remifentanil, marketed under the brand name Ultiva is a potent, short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic drug. It is given to patients during surgery to relieve pain and as an adjunct to an anesthetic. Remifentanil is used for sedation as well a ...
.
The same study pointed out that in a 2011 case at the European Court of Human Rights, the Russian government stated that the aerosol used was a mixture of a fentanyl derivative and a chemical compound with a narcotic action.
Initial siege
The hostages were seized on 23 October at the House of Culture of State Ball-Bearing Plant Number 1 in the Dubrovka area of Moscow about four kilometers south-east of the
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
.
During Act II of a sold-out performance of ''
Nord-Ost
''Nord-Ost'' (, means "North-East" in German) is a Russian musical theatre production that was composed by Aleksei Ivaschenko and Georgii Vasilyev, based on the novel '' The Two Captains'' by Veniamin Kaverin. It is a fictional story based arou ...
'' a little after 9:00 PM, 40–50 heavily armed masked men and women drove in a bus to the theater and entered the main hall firing
assault rifle
An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...
s in the air.
The black-and-camouflage-clad attackers
took approximately 850–900 people hostage, including members of the audience and performers, among them an
MVD
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; , ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enforcement in Russia through its agencies the Police of Russia, Migration ...
general. The reaction of spectators inside the theater to the news that the theater was under terrorist attack was not uniform: some people remained calm, some reacted hysterically, and others fainted. Some performers who had been resting backstage escaped through an open window and called the police; in all, some 90 people managed to flee the building or hide.
The terrorist leader told the hostages that the attackers (who identified themselves as a
suicide squad
The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
from "the 29th Division"
) had no grudge against foreign nationals (about 75 in number from 14 countries, including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
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 ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
) and promised to release anyone who showed a foreign
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
.
Demands
The gunmen were led by
Movsar Barayev, nephew of slain Chechen rebel
militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
commander
Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev (; 27 May 1974 – 22 June 2001) was a Chechen warlord who in 1996 became the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR) in Chechnya.
Nicknamed "The Terminator", Barayev and the SPIR were ...
, and threatened to kill the hostages unless Russian forces were immediately and unconditionally withdrawn from Chechnya. They said the
deadline
Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to:
* Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain
* ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...
was one week, after which they would start killing the hostages.
A
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...
d statement was acquired by the media in which the gunmen declared their willingness to die for their cause. The statement contained the following text:
According to the Kremlin's aide
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, "When they were told that the withdrawal of troops was unrealistic within the short period, that it was a very long process, the terrorists put forward the demand to withdraw Russian troops from anywhere in the Republic of Chechnya without specifying which area it was." The hostage-takers demanded termination of the use of
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
and
air force
An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
s in Chechnya starting the next day (Russian forces ceased using heavy weapons until 28 September), a halt to the notorious ''
zachistka
Zachistka ( , ''cleansing operation'') is a Russian military term for "mopping-up" operations to cleanse a territory from enemy military forces. The term is also applied to mass force actions against civilian population in a certain area by mili ...
'' ("mopping-up") operations, and that
President of Russia
The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
should publicly declare that he was striving to stop the war in Chechnya. By the time of the hostage-taking, the conflict in the embattled republic was killing an average of three federal troops daily.
Cell phone conversations between the hostages trapped in the building and their family members revealed that the hostage-takers had
grenades
A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...
,
mines
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
*Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
Mi ...
and
improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
s strapped to their bodies, and had deployed more explosives throughout the theater. The militants used Arabic names among themselves, and the female terrorists wore Arab-style ''
niqab
A niqāb, niqab, or niqaab (; ), also known as a ruband () or rubandah (), is a long garment worn by some Muslim women in order to cover their entire body and face, excluding their eyes. It is an interpretation in Islam of the concept of ...
'' clothes which are highly unusual in the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
region.
Mufti Akhmad-Khadzhi Shamayev, official leader of Chechnya's Muslims, said he had no information about who the attackers were and condemned attacks on civilians. The pro-Moscow Islamic leader of Chechnya also condemned the attack.
All hostages were kept in the
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
and the
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
pit was used as a
lavatory.
The situation in the hall was nervous and it frequently changed depending on the mood of the hostage-takers, who were following reports in the
mass media
Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.
Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...
. Any kind of
misinformation
Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
caused hopelessness among the hostages and new aggression among their captors, who would threaten to shoot hostages and blow up the building, but no major incidents took place during the siege. The gunmen let members of the audience make phone calls.
One hostage used her mobile phone to plead with authorities not to storm the auditorium,
as truckloads of police and soldiers with
armored vehicle
Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...
s surrounded the building.
Hostage-taking
Day one23 October
The attackers released 150 to 200 people, including children,
pregnant
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
women,
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s, some foreign-born theater-goers and people requiring medical treatment in the early hours after they invaded. Two women managed to escape (one of them was injured while escaping).
The terrorists said they were ready to kill ten hostages for any of their number killed if the security forces intervened.
Olga Romanova
At 1:30 AM, Olga Romanova, a 26-year-old civilian acting on her own, entered the theater, crossing the police cordon by herself.
She entered the theater and began urging the hostages to stand up to their captors. There was considerable confusion in the auditorium. The terrorists believed she was a
Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
(FSB) agent and she was shot and killed seconds later. Romanova's body was later removed from the building by a Russian medical team, incorrectly reported by the Moscow police as the body of the first hostage who was killed while trying to escape.
Romanova was described as "strong-willed", and lived near the theater.
It is unknown how she crossed the police lines undetected.
Day two24 October
The Russian government offered the hostage-takers the opportunity to leave for any country other than Russia or Chechnya if they released all hostages unharmed.
The hostages made an appeal, possibly under orders or duress, for Putin to cease hostilities in Chechnya and asked him to refrain from assaulting the building. Because of the crisis, Putin canceled an overseas trip that would have included meetings with
then-U.S. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and other world leaders.
The hostage-takers demanded to talk with
Joseph Kobzon
Joseph Davydovich Kobzon (11 September 1937 – 30 August 2018) was a Soviet-born Russian singer, known for his crooner style.
Early life
Kobzon was born to History of the Jews in the Soviet Union, Jewish Ukrainians, Ukrainian parents in the ...
, a member of parliament and singer, and with International Red Cross representatives. Kobzon (accompanied by three people, including a man waving some white fabric like a flag), entered the building about 1:20 PM. Shortly thereafter, a man in his sixties, appearing feeble and distraught, left the theater. The Interfax news agency identified him as a British citizen, but did not provide details. A woman and three children, believed to be Russians, were let out a few minutes later.
Other well-known public and political figures such as
Aslambek Aslakhanov
Aslambek Akhmedovich Aslakhanov (; 11 March 1942 – 11 August 2024) was a Russian general and politician who served as a State Duma deputy from Chechnya. He was an advisor and aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Aslakhanov was a General ...
,
Irina Khakamada
Irina Mutsuovna Khakamada ( rus, Ири́на Муцу́овна Хакама́да, p=ɪˈrʲinə mʊˈtsuəvnə xəkɐˈmadə; born 13 April 1955) is a Russian economist, political activist, journalist, teacher, publicist, and politician who ...
,
Ruslan Khasbulatov
Ruslan Imranovich Khasbulatov (, ; 22 November 1942 – 3 January 2023) was a Russian economist and politician and the former chairman of Parliament of Russia of Chechen descent who played a central role in the events leading to the 1993 co ...
,
Boris Nemtsov
Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov; (9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist, liberalism in Russia, liberal politician, and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Early in his political career, he was involved in the introduction of reform ...
and
Grigory Yavlinsky
Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky (; born 10 April 1952) is a Russian economist and politician. He has held numerous positions in the Soviet and Russian governments across different levels, including in the State Duma.
Yavlinsky was one of auth ...
took part in negotiations with the hostage-takers. Ex-President of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
also announced his willingness to act as an intermediary in the course of negotiations. Militants also demanded that representatives of the
International Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a aid agency, humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of Law of ...
and ''
Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...
'' (Doctors Without Borders) come to the theater to lead negotiations. FSB
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
Konstantin Vasilyev attempted to enter the patio of the theater, but was shot at while approaching the building and forced to retreat.
According to the FSB, thirty nine hostages were set free by the terrorists on 24 October 2002, but they repeated via one of the hostages an earlier threat to start shooting their captives if Russia failed to take their demands seriously.
Negotiations on the release of non-Russian nationals were conducted by various
embassies
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...
and the Chechens promised to release all foreign hostages. The kidnappers claimed they were ready to release 50 Russian hostages if
Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmat-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov (23 August 1951 – 9 May 2004) was a Chechen politician and revolutionary who served as Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War. At the outbreak ...
, head of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration, would come to the theater, but Kadyrov did not respond, and the release did not take place.
A hot water pipe burst overnight and was flooding the ground floor. The hostage-takers called the flooding a "provocation" and an FSB spokesman said no agreement had been reached on having the pipe repaired.
It later turned out that the
sewer system
Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and screen ...
was used by the Russian special forces for listening purposes.
Day three25 October
During the third day, the following people took part in negotiations with the militants: journalists
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russians, Russian investigative journalist who reported on political and social events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War (1999–2005).
It was her repor ...
,
Sergei Govorukhin and
Mark Franchetti Mark Franchetti is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He worked for 23 years as a correspondent for the Sunday Times of London, much of it as the paper's Moscow correspondent. Fluent in five languages, Franchetti was awarded the British Press ...
as well as public figures
Yevgeny Primakov
Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015, ) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to ...
,
Ruslan Aushev
Ruslan Sultanovich Aushev (born 29 October 1954) is a Russian Ingush former politician. He was the President of Ingushetia from March 1993 to December 2001. He was reportedly the youngest officer in the Soviet Army to reach the rank of lieute ...
and again, Aslambek Aslakhanov. The terrorists demanded negotiations with an official representative of Vladimir Putin. Relatives of the hostages staged anti-war demonstrations outside the theater and in central Moscow.
The hostage-takers agreed to release seventy-five foreign citizens in the presence of diplomatic representatives of their states. 15 Russian citizens were released, including eight children (aged 7 to 13). After a meeting with Putin, the FSB head
Nikolai Patrushev
Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev (; born 11 July 1951) is a Russian politician, security officer and former intelligence officer who served as the secretary of the Security Council of Russia from 2008 to 2024. He previously served as the director o ...
offered to spare the lives of the Chechens if they released the remaining hostages unharmed.
A group of Russian doctors including Dr.
Leonid Roshal
Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal (; born April 27, 1933) is a noted pediatrician from Moscow, Russia, expert for the World Health Organization, and chairman of International Charity Fund to Help Children in Disasters and Wars.
Biography
Roshal was b ...
, head of the Medical Center for Catastrophes, entered the theater to bring medicine for the hostages and said the terrorists were not beating or threatening their captives. He said most of the hostages were calm and that only "two or three" of the hostages were hysterical. Some hot food, warm clothes, and medicine had also been taken in by the Red Cross.
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televisio ...
channel journalists recorded an interview with Movsar Barayev, in which he sent a message to the Russian government:
We have nothing to lose. We have already covered 2,000 kilometers by coming here. There is no way back... We have come to die. Our motto is freedom and paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
. We already have freedom as we've come to Moscow. Now we want to be in paradise.
He also said the group had come to Moscow not to kill the hostages or to fight with Russia's elite troops, as they had had enough fighting in Chechnya over the years: "We came here with a specific aimto put an end to the war and that is it."
At 9:55 PM, four hostages (citizens of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
) were released, bringing the total number of hostages that were set free on this day to 19.
Gennady Vlakh
After dusk, a man identified as Gennady Vlakh ran across the square and gained entry to the theater. He said that his son was among the hostages, but his son did not seem to be present and the man was led away and shot by the Chechens.
There is considerable confusion surrounding this incident, and Vlakh's body was cremated before it was identified.
Denis Gribkov
Around midnight, a gunfire incident took place as Denis Gribkov, a 30-year-old male hostage, ran over the backs of theater seats toward the female insurgents who were sitting next to a large improvised explosive device.
A male Chechen shot at him and missed, but stray bullets hit and severely wounded Tamara Starkova and fatally wounded Pavel Zakharov, who were evacuated from the building soon after. Gribkov was removed from the auditorium and later found dead from gunshot wounds.
Day fourMorning of 26 October

During the night,
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev (; ; born 26 April 1959) is a Chechen statesman, political and military figure of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). Having previously been a Deputy Prime Minister, he now serves as Prime Minister o ...
, a Chechen envoy and associate of the separatist President
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov (; ; 21 September 1951 – 8 March 2005) was a Soviet and Chechen politician and military commander who was the third president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
He was credited by many with ...
, appealed to the extremists and asked them to "refrain from rash steps". The Chechens told the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
that a special representative of President Putin planned to come to the theater for talks the next day. Two members of the
Spetsnaz
SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...
Alpha Group
Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, officially Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is a sub-unit of Russian special forces within the Russian Special Forces Center of the Feder ...
moving around in the
no-man's land were seriously wounded by a grenade fired from the building by the terrorists, which was blamed by the Moscow police chief
Vladimir Pronin on the media
news leak
A news leak is the unsanctioned release of confidential information to news media. It can also be the premature publication of information by a news outlet, of information that it has agreed not to release before a specified time, in violation of a ...
.
According to an officer in the Russian special forces cited by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', the leak was controlled: "We leaked the information that the storming would take place at three in the morning. The
Chechen fighters were on their guard. They began shooting, but there was no raid. Then there was the natural reactiona relaxation. And at 5 a.m. we stormed the place."
Special forces raid
Early Saturday morning, 26 October, forces from Russia's
Spetsnaz
SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...
(Special Forces, literally "special purpose") from the FSB (
Alpha Group
Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, officially Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is a sub-unit of Russian special forces within the Russian Special Forces Center of the Feder ...
and
Vympel
Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is a stand-alone su ...
), with the assistance of the
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; , ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enforcement in Russia through its agencies the Police of Russia, Migratio ...
(MVD)
SOBR
The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR (), from 2002 to 2011 known as OMSN (''Otryad Militsii Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya'', Special Police Unit), is a spetsnaz unit of the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya).With their military equipmen ...
unit, surrounded and stormed the theater; all were heavily armed and masked. Deputy
Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
Vladimir Vasilyev stated that the raid was prompted by a panic among the captives due to the execution of two female hostages. The raid was planned shortly after the hostages were initially seized and the shooting cited as a proximate cause had occurred about three hours before the operation began.
Chemical attack
Early in the morning before dawn, at around 5:00a.m. Moscow time, the
searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...
s that had been illuminating the main entrance to the theater went out.
Inside, although many hostages at first took the gas (
aerosol
An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be generated from natural or Human impact on the environment, human causes. The term ''aerosol'' co ...
) to be smoke from a fire,
it soon became apparent to gunmen and hostages alike that a mysterious gas had been pumped into the building. Different reports said it came either through the specially created hole in the wall, that it was pumped through the theater's ventilation system, or that it emerged from beneath the stage. The security services pumped an
aerosol
An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be generated from natural or Human impact on the environment, human causes. The term ''aerosol'' co ...
anaesthetic
An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia — in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into t ...
, later stated by Russian Health Minister Yuri Shevchenko to be based on
fentanyl
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...
, into the theater through the
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
system. The discovery caused panic in the auditorium. Hostage Anna Andrianova, a correspondent for ''
Moskovskaya Pravda'', called
Echo of Moscow
Echo of Moscow () was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local radio stations), and via the Internet. From 1996 its editor- ...
radio studio and conducted a
live broadcast A live broadcasting, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcasting without a significant delay.
The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting ...
with hostages who started feeling the effects of the gas used by the government forces and begged them to desist.
Assault
The Chechens, some of whom were equipped with
gas mask
A gas mask is a piece of personal protective equipment used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft ...
s, responded by firing blindly at the Russian positions outside. After thirty minutes, when the gas had taken effect, a physical assault on the building commenced. The combined forces entered through numerous building openings, including the roof, the basement, and finally the front door.
When the shooting began, the terrorists told their hostages to lean forward in the theater seats and cover their heads behind the seats.
Hostages reported that some people in the audience fell asleep, and some of the gunmen put on
respirator
A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including lead, lead fumes, vapors, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories o ...
s. As the terrorists and hostages began to fall unconscious, several of the female terrorists made a dash for the balcony but passed out before they reached the stairs. They were later found shot dead. Two of the Spetsnaz
Alpha Group
Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, officially Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is a sub-unit of Russian special forces within the Russian Special Forces Center of the Feder ...
were also overcome by the gas.
After nearly one and a half hours of sporadic gun battles, the Russian special forces blew open the doors to the main hall and poured into the auditorium. In a fierce firefight, the federals killed most of the hostage-takers, both those still awake and those who had succumbed to the gas.
According to the Russian government, fighting between the troops and the still-conscious Chechen fighters continued in other parts of the building for another 30 minutes to one hour. Initial reports stated that three terrorists were captured alive (the BBC reported that a "handful of surviving fighters were led away in
handcuffs
Handcuffs are Physical restraint, restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a Link chain, chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm whi ...
"
) and two of them managed to escape. Later, the government claimed that all hostage-takers had been killed in the storming.
Alpha team troops said that "this is our first successful operation
nyears".
''
Moskovskij Komsomolets
''Moskovskij Komsomolets'' (''MK''; ) is a Moscow-based daily newspaper with a circulation approaching one million, covering general news. Founded in 1919, it is famed for its topical reporting on Russian politics and society.
History
The news ...
'' cited a Russian special forces operative saying that "if it were a usual storming, we'd have had 150 casualties among our men, added to the hostages."
Evacuation
At 7:00 a.m., rescuers began carrying the bodies of hostages out of the building. Bodies were laid in rows in the
foyer
A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...
and on the pavement at the main entrance to the TC, unprotected from falling rain and snow. None of the bodies witnessed by ''The Guardian'' correspondent
Nick Paton Walsh
Nick Paton Walsh (born 1977) is a British journalist who is CNN's International Security Editor. He has been CNN's Kabul Correspondent, an Asia and foreign affairs correspondent for the UK's ''Channel 4 News'', and Moscow correspondent for ''T ...
had bullet wounds or showed signs of bleeding, but "their faces were waxy, white and drawn, their eyes open and blank."
Shortly, the entire space was filled with bodies of the dead and those unconscious from the gas but still alive.
Ambulance
An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...
s were standing by and ordinary city buses were brought in. Medical workers were expecting to treat victims of explosions and gunfire but not a secret chemical agent. If the drug used was indeed a fentanyl derivative or other
μ-opioid receptor agonist
An agonist is a chemical that activates a Receptor (biochemistry), receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are Cell (biology), cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an R ...
, an opioid
receptor antagonist
A receptor antagonist is a type of receptor ligand or drug that blocks or dampens a biological response by binding to and blocking a receptor rather than activating it like an agonist. Antagonist drugs interfere in the natural operation of rec ...
drug like
naloxone
Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan among others, is an opioid antagonist, a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. For example, it is used to restore breathing after an opioid overdose. Effects begin within two ...
would have counteracted the chemical agent's effects, but would have had to be administered by rescue workers immediately upon arriving. Some reports said the drug was used to save some hostages.
The bodies of dead hostages were put in two buses which were parked at the TC. Initial reports said nothing about casualties among the hostages. The crisis HQ representatives went to the college hall, where relatives of the hostages had been waiting, and told them that allegedly there were no fatalities among the hostages. The first official report of fatalities among the hostages came at about 9:00 a.m. Despite the death of five children which had been already reported by medical personnel, the official statement claimed there were no children among the dead.
At 1:00 p.m., Vasilyev announced at a press conference a "definitive" death toll of 67 hostages, who he said were killed by Chechens,
but again said no children nor foreigners were among those killed. Armed guards were posted at the hospitals where victims were taken and doctors were ordered not to release any of the theater
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...
s in case militants had concealed themselves among the hostages.
The hostages' family members panicked as the government refused to release any information about which hospitals their loved ones had been taken to, or even whether their relatives were among the dead.
The official number of the dead rose to 90, including 25 children, while it was still claimed that the final attack was provoked by the terrorists executing their captives.
Later the same day, the official death toll among hostages had risen to at least 118 and the officials had not specified exactly what killed them.
By 28 October, of the 646 former hostages who remained hospitalized, 150 were still in
intensive care
Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...
and 45 were in critical condition.
Seventy-three hostages (including six minors) were rendered no medical aid. There were several Chechens among the hostages and it may be that some of them were not treated because of their Chechen names.
[Anna Politkovskaya. ''Putin's Russia''. The Harvill Press. 2004.] Money and other valuables belonging to the victims vanished; official reports stated that the valuables were stolen by an FSB officer who was later killed in a car crash.
The Russian authorities initially maintained that none of the deaths among the hostages occurred through poisoning. They spoke of health problems that were exacerbated by the three-day ordeal with very little food or water, or indeed, medical attention.
Casualties
The number of estimated casualties varies widely because many hostages remained unaccounted for and were not included in the official list (see below).
Some estimates have put the civilian death toll at more than 200
with 204 names on one list, or even 300, including people who died during the year after the siege from complications from the poison gas.
Some former hostages and relatives of the victims claim that the death toll from the chemical agent is being kept secret.
According to official numbers, 40 terrorists and about 130 hostages died during the raid or in the following days.
Andrei Seltsovsky, Moscow's health committee chairman, announced that all but one of the hostages killed in the raid had died from the effects of the unknown gas rather than from gunshot wounds.
The cause of death listed for all hostages was declared to be "terrorism," claiming they died from
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
s or other physical ailments.
Among the fatalities, 17 were ''Nord-Ost'' cast members, including two child actors. Of the foreign nationals, three were from Ukraine, and the others were citizens of Austria, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and the United States.
About 700 surviving hostages were poisoned by the gas, and some of them received injuries leading to second- and third-degree
disabilities
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...
(indicating medium- and light-severity debilitation in the Russian disability classification system). Several Russian special forces operatives were also poisoned by the gas during the operation. According to court testimony from A. Vorobiev, Director of the Russian Academic Bacteriology Center, most, if not all, of the deaths were caused by suffocation when hostages collapsed on chairs with heads falling back or were transported and left lying on their backs by rescue workers; in such a position, tongue
prolapse
In medicine, prolapse is a condition in which organ (anatomy), organs fall down or slip out of place. It is used for organs protruding through the vagina, rectum, or for the misalignment of the valves of the heart. A spinal disc herniation is al ...
causes blockage of breathing.
Responsibility
The operation was conducted primarily by the Chechen radical militant group The
Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR), with involvement from the
RSRSBCM and
International Islamic Brigade. The operation was led by
Movsar Barayev.
Military commander
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (; ; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank ...
posted a statement on his website claiming ultimate responsibility for the incident, resigning all official positions within the Chechen government and promising new attacks. He also apologized to Chechnya's elected president and separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov for not informing him of the planned raid and asked him for forgiveness.
Basayev defended the hostage-taking for giving "all Russians a first-hand insight into all the charms of the war unleashed by Russia and take it back to where it originated from" and said that his "main goal will be destroying the enemy and exacting maximum damage" and "the next time, those who come won't make any demands, won't take hostages."
The Russian government claimed that
wiretap
Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...
ped phone conversations prove that Maskhadov knew of the plans in advance, which he denied.
Aslan Maskhadov and his representatives in the West condemned the attack which they said had nothing to do with official policy. Maskhadov said he felt responsible for those "who resorted to self-sacrifice in despair", but also said the "barbaric and inhumane policies" of the Russian leadership were ultimately to blame and criticized the storming of the theater. He offered to start unconditional peace talks with the Russian government to find a political solution to the conflict in Chechnya.
The siege was seen as a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
disaster for Maskhadov, and his more radical Islamic field commanders correspondingly benefited. Some commentators suggested that
Movladi Udugov
Movladi Saidarbievich Udugov (, born 9 February 1962 in Germenchuk, Shalinsky District, Chechnya into the Shirdi teip) is the former First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). As a Chechen propaganda chief, he was ...
was in charge from behind the scenes. Russian military expert
Pavel Felgenhauer
Pavel Eugenievich Felgenhauer (; born 6 December 1951) is a Russian military analyst known for his publications about Russia's political and military leadership.
Biography
Felgenhauer was born in 1951 in Moscow, the Soviet Union and graduated ...
suggested that the aim of the extremist leaders seemed to have been to provoke the Russian government forces "to kill ethnic Russians in Moscow on a large scale", which happened.
According to the report by Russian investigators,
Zura Barayeva, the widow of Arbi Barayev, led the female members of the group, while a man known as Yasir, identified by his documents as Idris Alkhazurov, was said to be the group's "ideologist" believed to be trained in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. Russian officials said Chechen militants received financing from groups based in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and that they intercepted telephone calls from the captors to unidentified embassies in Moscow, as well as to Turkey and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
.
Aftermath
After the raid, Moscow Mayor
Yuri Luzhkov Yuri may refer to:
People
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
*Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...
said that "the operation was carried out brilliantly by special forces;" he claimed he had wanted a negotiated end to the crisis, but the final attack was made necessary by the reported killing of hostages. The Russian presidential special envoy for
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
in Chechnya,
Abdul-Khakim Sultygov, said the bloody outcome was "a good lesson to the terrorists and their accomplices."
Deputy Interior Minister Vasilyev launched a Moscow-wide operation to catch anyone who might have helped the militants, while his superior, Interior Minister
Boris Gryzlov
Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov (, ; born 15 December 1950) is a Russian politician and diplomat currently serving as the Russian Ambassador to Belarus. Previously, he served as the chairman of the State Duma from 2003 to 2011 and as interior m ...
, urged people to be vigilant and to report anyone acting suspiciously to police. On 29 October, Vasilyev said he had the authority to state only that special chemical agents had been used and that some 30 suspected militants and their collaborators, including several civil servants and security officers, had been arrested around the theater and in other parts of the city in what Gryzlov called an "unprecedented operation" to identify what he described as a vast terrorist network in Moscow and the surrounding region.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
defended the scale and violence of the assault in a televised address later on the morning of 26 October, stating that the government had "achieved the near impossible, saving hundreds... of people" and that the rescue "proved it is impossible to bring Russia to its knees".
Putin thanked the special forces as well as the Russian citizens for their "bravery" and the
international community
The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world.
Usage
Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...
for the support given against the "common enemy". He also asked forgiveness for not being able to save more of the hostages, and declared Monday a
national day of mourning
A national day of mourning is a day, or one of several days, marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the deat ...
for those who died.
He vowed to continue fighting "
international terrorism
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 ag ...
".
On 29 October, Putin released another televised statement, saying: "Russia will respond with measures that are adequate to the threat to the Russian Federation, striking all the places where the terrorists themselves, the organizers of these crimes and their ideological and financial inspirations are. I stress, wherever they may be located." It was commonly assumed Putin was threatening the former Soviet Republic of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
.
Putin's comments came as British
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
phoned him to congratulate him on the ending of the siege.
President Putin was unhappy with the coverage of the hostage crisis by
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televisio ...
, the last nationwide TV channel effectively independent of the government. In January 2003 the management of NTV was replaced, resulting in a profound effect on its editorial policy.
Long-term consequences
The attacks prompted Putin's government to take harsher measures against Chechen separatists. On 28 October, two days after the crisis, he announced that unspecified "measures adequate to the threat" would henceforth be taken in response to terrorist activity, with reports of 30 fighters killed near the Chechen capital
Grozny
Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia.
The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...
.
The
Russian Ministry of Defense
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the forces ...
cancelled plans to reduce the 80,000 troop presence in the tiny breakaway Chechen republic.
In early November,
Defense Minister
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
Sergei Ivanov
Sergei Borisovich Ivanov (, ; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has been serving as the Special Presidential Envoy on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport since 12 August 2016. He h ...
announced Russian forces had launched large-scale operations against separatists throughout Chechnya. The actions of the military caused a new wave of
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s, according to the pro-Moscow Chechen official and the hostage crisis negotiator Aslanbek Aslakhanov.
On 29 May 2008, the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
(ECHR) unanimously condemned Russia for enforced disappearances in five cases from Chechnya, including the disappearance of two young women in
Ulus-Kert (the prosecutor's office initially stated to media that Aminat Dugayeva and Kurbika Zinabdiyeva had been arrested on suspicion of involvement with the Moscow siege).
President Maskhadov's unconditional offer for peace talks with Russia was swiftly dismissed, and Russian
Foreign Minister
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
Sergei Lavrov
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko during the Soviet Union.
Lavrov was b ...
compared such calls with the suggestion that Europe should conduct such talks with the former
al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
leader
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
. Russia also accused former Chechen Republic leader
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev (; ; born 26 April 1959) is a Chechen statesman, political and military figure of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). Having previously been a Deputy Prime Minister, he now serves as Prime Minister o ...
of involvement in the attack. When he visited Denmark for a peace congress in October 2002 (the
World Chechen Congress
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...
event in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
), the Russians demanded his arrest and
extradition
In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...
;
Zakayev was held for over a month, but was released after Danish authorities stated they were not convinced that sufficient evidence had been provided. The Kremlin also accused the Danish authorities of "solidarity with terrorists" by allowing the meeting of about 100 Chechens, Russian human rights activists and lawmakers from Russia and other European countries to gather and discuss ways to end the fighting.
In early November, the Russian
Duma
A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...
approved a broad array of
anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation are laws aimed at fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations. Anti-terrorism legislation usually includes specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its own l ...
ranging from far-reaching restrictions on media coverage of terrorism-related incidents to secret burials for killed terrorists (one lawmaker went as far as to suggest wrapping terrorists' corpses in pigskin and another suggested "carting them around the city with their legs dangling"). The new media law severely restricted the media's reporting of anti-terrorist operations, banning publication or broadcast of "any statement that hinders an operation to break such a siege, or attempts to justify the aims of the hostage-takers".
These new policies prompted renewed fears in Russia that Putin was systematically taking control of all Russian media.
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political party to participate in the December 2003 parliamentary elect ...
, whose
Liberal Russia party voted against the change, was quoted by
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
as saying: "On a wave of emotion, we have in fact legitimised
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
and practically banned
criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...
of the authorities in
emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
situations."
Coverage of Chechnya had already been severely restricted, needing the cooperation of both the Russian military and the Moscow-backed Chechen administration (see
Russian government censorship of Chechnya coverage
Since the start of the Second Chechen War in 1999, Russian federal authorities are alleged to have implemented a plan to use legal and extralegal methods to limit media access to the conflict region.
Chechen conflict
The Russian government's cont ...
). A law by which corpses of people convicted or accused of terrorism would not be released to their families, but disposed of in secret was approved, applying to the bodies of the militants killed in the Moscow crisis, and later applying even to President Maskhadov, who was killed in 2005.
In 2003,
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
reported Chechens in Moscow were subjected to increased police
harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and ...
after the hostage crisis.
Moscow's Chechens rose in numbers from about 20,000 in the Soviet period to an estimated 80,000 in 2002.
Many in the Russian press and in the international media warned that the death of so many hostages in the special forces' rescue operation would severely damage President Putin's popularity. This prediction reportedly turned out to be wrong. Shortly after the siege, the Russian president had record public approval ratings; in December 2002, 83% of Russians reportedly declared themselves satisfied with Putin's rule and his handling of the siege.
Investigation
The official investigation that the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office had been carrying out for three and a half years failed to provide positive information on the gas agent that killed hostages, possible antidote to that agent, the number of hostages released by the operation, the number of militants who had seized the theater (hostages claimed that they saw more than 50 militants, whereas only 40 hostage takers were in the building according to the official version), and the names of officials who had made the decision about the assault.
On 1 June 2007, news came that the official investigation had been suspended. The reason provided was that the "culprit had not been located".
The same month, Tatiana Karpova, co-chair of the Nord-Ost Organization of former hostages and families of the dead, demanded a new criminal investigation. She claimed the authorities failed to meet their obligations related to right to life. She stated her concern about the lack of medical care for the injured, and future medical problems for the survivors. In July 2007, relatives of those who died in the hostage-taking urged the Office of the
Prosecutor General of Russia
The Prosecutor General of Russia (also Attorney General of Russia, ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts and heads the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor General remains one of the most po ...
to investigate whether senior officials were responsible for the deaths.
Claims of FSB involvement
The Duma refused to consider a proposal by the
liberal democratic
Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal democracy are: ...
Union of Rightist Forces
The Union of Right Forces (URF). was a Russian liberal-conservative political public organization and former party, initially founded as an electoral bloc in 1999 and associated with free market reforms, privatization, and the legacy of the " ...
party to form an investigative commission charged with probing the government's actions in the theater siege.
An independent investigation of the event was undertaken by Russian politicians
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political party to participate in the December 2003 parliamentary elect ...
,
Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov (also spelled Sergey Kovalev; ; 2 March 1930 – 9 August 2021) was a Russian human rights activist and politician. During the Soviet period he was a dissident and, after 1975, a political prisoner.
Early career and ...
, journalist
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russians, Russian investigative journalist who reported on political and social events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War (1999–2005).
It was her repor ...
,
Hoover Institute
The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...
scholar
John B. Dunlop, and former FSB officers
Aleksander Litvinenko and
Mikhail Trepashkin
Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin (; born 7 April 1957) is a Russian attorney and former Federal Security Service (FSB) colonel who was invited by MP Sergei Kovalev to assist in an independent inquiry of the Russian apartment bombings in September ...
. According to their version, the FSB knew about the terrorist group's arrival in Moscow and directed them to the theater through their
agent provocateur
An 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 ...
Khanpasha Terkibayev ("Abu Bakar"), whose name was in the list of hostage takers and who left the theater alive.
In April 2003 Litvinenko gave information about Terkibayev ("the Terkibayev file") to
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political party to participate in the December 2003 parliamentary elect ...
when he visited London. Yushenkov passed this file to Politkovskaya and she was able to interview Terkibayev in person.
[ Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. '' Death of a dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB'', The Free Press (2007) ] A few days later, Yushenkov was assassinated by gunfire in Moscow. Terkibayev was later killed in an apparent car crash in Chechnya.
In June 2003, Litvinenko stated in an interview with the Australian television programme ''
Dateline
A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization is ...
'', that two of the Chechen militants involved in the siege—whom he named "
Abdul
Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, meaning "the").
It ...
the Bloody" and "Abu Bakar"—were working for the FSB, and that the agency manipulated the terrorists into staging the attack. Litvinenko said: "
en they tried to find
bdul the Bloody and Abu Bakaramong the rotting corpses of dead terrorists, they weren't there. The FSB got its agents out. So the FSB agents among Chechens organized the whole thing on FSB orders, and those agents were released". "Abu Bakar" (presumably Terkibayev) was also described as an FSB agent and organizer of the theater siege by
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russians, Russian investigative journalist who reported on political and social events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War (1999–2005).
It was her repor ...
,
Alexander Khinshtein
Alexander Yevseyevich Khinshtein (; born 26 October 1974, Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR) is a Russian journalist and politician.
Biography
Alexander Khinshtein was born on October 26, 1974 in Moscow.
He graduated from high school in 1991. In 1 ...
and other journalists. Sanobar Shermatova and a co-author had pointed out in "Moskovskie novosti" that Terkibaev had for a number of years been involved in "anti-Wahhabi" activities.
John Dunlop identifies "Abu Bakar" as Ruslan Elmurzaev, claimed by Mikhail Trepaskin to have been a resident of Moscow, not Chechnya, and to have been involved in various criminal activities operating out of the Hotel Salyut in Moscow. There were reports that Elmurzaev had not been killed in the storming of the theater. Film director Sergei Govorukhin, one of the volunteer negotiators at Dubrovka, has said that he is convinced that Elmurzaev, who he identified as an FSB agent, is still alive. Russian prosecutors were unable to show Elmurzaev's corpse and during a visit to Chechnya in October 2003, Russian intelligence officers confirmed to him that Elmurzaev was alive and well and living in Chechnya.
The titular leader of the hostage takers was one Movsar Baraev, the nephew of the late and infamous "
Wahhabi
Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...
kidnapper" Arbi Baraev, a figure reported to have shadowy connections to both the FSB and GRU. In January 2003, the French journalist Anne Nivat reported that Baraev had been arrested two months before the hostage-taking incident. This information being true, Baraev was already in Russian custody when the theater siege occurred. Nivat also reported that two of the female hostage takers were also in Russian custody at the time of the siege while late Duma Deputy Yurii Shchekochikhin wrote that another female hostage taker was in custody at the time.
That "Abu Bakar" was in control and not Baraev was supported by an article in "Moskovskie novosti" by journalists Shermatova and Teit, in which it was reported that a hushed conversation between Abu Bakar and Baraev had been accidentally captured by NTV. Baraev declared that the hostage takers had been sent by Shamil Basaev only to be quietly corrected by Abu Bakar to add 'Aslan Maskhadov', in order to link the latter to the hostage taking.
As an evidence against Maskhadov, Russians cited a tape first shown on Al Jazeera and subsequently on Russian television, although only a fragment of the original tape was shown on Russian TV. On the original full length tape it was evident that it had been made in late summer, not in October, and had concerned a military operation against federal forces, not an act of hostage taking.
Nevertheless, Maskhadov had been discredited although there is no credible evidence to link him with the siege. In the end, it could be said that both the Russian government and the Chechen extremists had achieved their goals; talk of negotiations had ended and Maskhadov's reputation had been damaged.
There is also the figure of Arman Menkeev, a retired major in the GRU and a specialist in making explosive devices. He was arrested by the Interior Ministry in November 2002 at the Moscow Oblast base allegedly used by the terrorists but was released shortly afterwards. He may have subsequently been rearrested but was not charged with a crime and is apparently not in custody. FSB officers, who interrogated Menkeev in Lefortovo prison, classified him as "loyal to the Russian government", adding that "He knows how to keep a military and state secret".
The plastic explosive used by the terrorists was in fact "imitation plastic explosives" which had a "Ministry of Defense origin". The Moscow City Prosecutor's Office claimed that Menkeev could have been the source of this material.
Apart from two suicide belts, which were more of a danger to the wearers, the bombs placed in the theater (and elsewhere in Moscow prior to the siege) lacked essential elements like batteries; this provided the required conditions for the successful storming of the theater.
Moscow lawsuit and the European Court complaint
After the siege, 61 former hostages sought
compensation
Compensation may refer to:
*Financial compensation
*Compensation (chess), various advantages a player has in exchange for a disadvantage
*Compensation (essay), ''Compensation'' (essay), by Ralph Waldo Emerson
*Compensation (film), ''Compensation'' ...
for physical and emotional suffering totaling almost US$60 million from Moscow city authorities. According to Russia's then-new anti-terrorism law, the region where an act of terror occurs should pay compensation for moral and material damages. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's office denounced the suits, saying it could not be held responsible as "the Chechen issue and its consequences are not within the jurisdiction of the Moscow authorities in any way." The Moscow administration earlier agreed to pay 50,000 roubles ($1,570) in compensation to each former hostage and 100,000 roubles ($3,140) to relatives of those killed. In all but one of the cases, Moscow city courts rejected the compensation claims.
In July 2003, 80 plaintiffs from Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan turned to the European Court for Human Rights, claiming that their right to life had been violated by Russian authorities' handling of the standoff. In April 2007, Igor Trunov, the claimants' advocate, reported that the ECHR had finally begun hearings into a complaint filed in 2003 by the victims against the Russian government. Trunov added that not only Russian citizens, but also those from Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan, filed complaints in the
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
Court. The plaintiffs demand €50,000 each in compensation for the violation of their human rights. The case was accepted by the court in December 2007.
On 8 July 2008, ''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' (''MT'') is an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking to ...
'' reported that the hearings at the European Court of Human Rights will be closed to the public at the request of Russian authorities as, according to Igor Trunov, they "have promised full disclosure on how they handled the crisis", including "the makeup of the knockout gas used in the storming of the theater by commandos."
On 20 December 2011, the European Court of Human Rights published its judgement in the case, ordering Russia to pay the 64 applicants a total of 1.3 million euros in compensation. The court also found that Russia had violated Article 2 of the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...
when handling the hostage crisis, "with inadequate planning and conduct of the rescue operation", and with the "authorities' failure to conduct an effective investigation into the rescue operation", although the Court found that there had been "no violation of Article 2 of the Convention on account of the decision by the authorities to resolve the hostage crisis by force and to use the gas."
Chemical agent mystery and subsequent identification
It was reported that efforts to treat victims were complicated because the Russian government refused to inform doctors what type of gas had been used. In the records of the official investigation, the agent is referred to as a "gaseous substance". In other cases, it is referred to as an "unidentified chemical substance".
The Russian Federation, as a member-state of the
Chemical Weapons Convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for ...
, undertook "never and under no circumstances to carry out any activities prohibited to member-states of this Convention to develop, to accumulate, to stockpile and to use chemical weapons that can cause death, temporary incapacitation, or permanent harm to humans or animals." The Convention obliges the states to fulfill the conditions of toxic chemicals' use that allow to exclude or considerably reduce the degree of injury and gravity of consequences. (The Convention allows the use of some chemical agents like
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...
for "law enforcement including domestic
riot control
Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to social control, control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful Demonstration (people), demonstration ...
", but requires that "riot control agents" have effects that "disappear within a short time following termination of exposure."
)
Analysis of drug residue from the clothing of two British hostages and the urine of a third British hostage, by a team of researchers at the British chemical and biological defense laboratories at
Porton Down
Porton Down is a science and defence technology campus in Wiltshire, England, just north-east of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, indicated that two fentanyl derivatives had been used. Neither of those two were
fentanyl
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...
or
3-methylfentanyl
3-Methylfentanyl (3-MF, mefentanyl) is an opioid analgesic that is an analog of fentanyl. 3-Methylfentanyl is one of the most potent opioids, estimated to be between 400 and 6000 times stronger than morphine, depending on which isomer is used (w ...
(the Russian Minister of Health earlier said that fentanyl or one of its derivatives had been used, but did not specify which derivatives).
The Porton Down analysis by James R. Riches and his colleagues showed that while fentanyl or 3-methylfentanyl were absent from the urine of one survivor and residues of the agent in the clothing of two other British survivors, the veterinary large animal sedative drug
carfentanil
Carfentanil or carfentanyl, formerly sold under the brand name Wildnil, is an extremely potent opioid analgesic used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. It is a structural analogue of the ...
and anesthetic agent
remifentanil
Remifentanil, marketed under the brand name Ultiva is a potent, short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic drug. It is given to patients during surgery to relieve pain and as an adjunct to an anesthetic. Remifentanil is used for sedation as well a ...
were identified by liquid chromatographic
tandem mass spectrometry
Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, is a technique in instrumental analysis where two or more stages of analysis using one or more mass analyzer are performed with an additional reaction step in between these analyses to increa ...
in one hostage's urine and on the clothing of three hostages who had returned to Britain after the hostage rescue. The authors concluded that carfentanil and remifentanil were used as a mixture in the chemical agent employed by Russian troops to subdue the Chechen terrorists and hostages at the Barricade Theater, perhaps suspended in the anesthetic agent
halothane
Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful ...
.
International reaction
*
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
In unanimously adopting
Resolution 1440 (2002), the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
condemned the attack and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The council also expressed their sympathies and condolences to the victims, Russian people, and government of Russia, and urged all states to cooperate with Russian authorities in bringing those responsible to justice.
*Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
condemned the attack in a television broadcast, arguing it would ultimately benefit the United States and
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in undermining
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
: "It's not wise for the Chechens to lose the sympathy of Russia and the Russian people. The
tyrant
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...
of our era is
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and America, and not Russia,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
or
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
."
In popular culture
In 2003, HBO broadcast ''Terror in Moscow'', a documentary directed by Dan Reed. Interviews with hostages and footage taken inside and outside the theater during the crisis are shown.
In 2004 a documentary by the
BBC's ''Horizon'' investigated the gas that was pumped into the theater.
A Russian DLC released in 2005 for ''
Postal 2
''Postal 2'' is a 2003 first-person shooter video game developed by Running with Scissors and published by Whiptail Interactive. It is the sequel to the 1997 game '' Postal'' and was released for Microsoft Windows in April 2003, macOS in April ...
'' known as "Штопор ЖжОт" (''Corkscrew Rules'') contains a reference to the attack, in a mission where the protagonist must defend himself from terrorists and police during an attack in a theater.
The 2006 play ''In Your Hands'' is based on the events of the Moscow theater siege, written by
Natalia Pelevine
Natalia Pelevine () (born on 2 November 1976) is a British-Russian playwright, political activist and blogger.
Early years
Natalia Pelevine was born in Moscow in 1976. She moved to England as a child and attended a private school, Southbank Inter ...
, opened in London at the
New End Theatre
The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011.
It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-defun ...
. In April 2008, Pelevine said that Russian authorities had banned the play following its Russian debut in the city of
Makhachkala
Makhachkala, previously known as Petrovskoye (1844–1857) and Port-Petrovsk (1857–1921), or by the local Kumyk language, Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Dagestan, Russia. ...
, the capital of
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
near Chechnya.
The play ''We Declare You a Terrorist'', by Tim J. Lord and based upon the attack, premiered at the 2009
Summer Play Festival
The Summer Play Festival (SPF) was a theatre festival held in New York, USA.
Description
The annual four-week Summer Play Festival took place during the summer months at the Public Theater in New York City. It was founded by Broadway producer Arie ...
.
The 2015 first-person shooter game ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is a 2015 tactical shooter game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game puts heavy emphasis on environmental destruction and cooperation between players. Each player assumes control o ...
'' cites the crisis and FSB response as an inspiration for their hostage rescue game mode.
Part III Episode 6 of the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
Spanish drama series ''
Money Heist
''Money Heist'' (, , ) is a Spanish heist crime drama television series created by Álex Pina. The series traces two long-prepared heists led by the Professor ( Álvaro Morte), one on the Royal Mint of Spain, and one on the Bank of Spain, ...
'' (''La Casa de Papel'') contains spoken references to the theater crisis and the use of halothane gas, with critique of Putin's indifference to the fates of the hostages and hostage-takers. In the series, Spanish authorities eventually use halothane gas to assault a bank during a hostage crisis.
In Season 1 Episode 9 of ''
FBI: International'', Bulgarian authorities nearly use poison gas to resolve a terrorist hostage-taking in a theater in
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, which the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, sent to assist Bulgarian authorities, strongly objects to. The standoff is ultimately resolved without the gas being deployed.
The 2020 film ''Conference (Конференция'') follows theater crisis survivor Natasha (Natalya Pavlenko) who returns to the theater to hold a memorial, finally able to confront her survivor's guilt and her estranged daughter and husband. The film is by Russian writer and director Igor I. Tverdovskiy.
Christopher Nolan's movie ''
Tenet
Tenet may refer to:
Media
* ''Tenet'' (film), a 2020 science fiction action-thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan
** ''Tenet'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack album to the film
* Tenet Media, a right-wing US influencer group alleg ...
'', released in August 2020, opens with a prologue that fans and critics have speculated is based on the attack.
See also
*
List of hostage crises
This is a list of notable hostage crises by date.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hostage crises
+
Hostage crises ...
*
Crocus City Hall attack
On 22 March 2024, a coordinated terrorist attack against civilians occurred at the Crocus City Hall music venue in Crocus City, Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia. The attack began at around 20:00 Moscow Time, MSK (UTC+3), shortly before the R ...
References
Further reading
*
Report on the crisis and legal proceedings Published 26 April 2006
.
*
Nord-Ost. Memorial Book of Lost Hostages. Above site in English, winner of 2007 'Golden Site' award.*}
Moscow hostage crisis: timeline BBC News. 26 October 2002.
''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' (''MT'') is an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking to ...
''. 28 October 2002.
*
*
Moscow theatre siege BBC News. 4 November 2002.
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...
. 18 December 2003 (Part
2an
3.
External links
The Moscow Theatre Siege – transcript BBC. 15 January 2004.
{{Islamic terrorism in Europe
2002 in Moscow
2002 in theatre
21st-century mass murder in Russia
Attacks on theatres
Chemical weapons attacks
Events in Moscow
Hostage rescue operations
Hostage taking in Russia
Islamic terrorism in Russia
Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002
Massacres committed by Russia
Massacres in 2002
Massacres in the Chechen–Russian conflict
Murder in Moscow
October 2002 in Russia
Russian special forces operations
Terrorist incidents in Moscow
Terrorist incidents in Russia in 2002
Terrorist incidents of the Second Chechen War