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[Ryazan]

On 22.09.99 at 21:15, the Dashkovo-Pesochinskoye department of the Oktyabrsky ROVD of Ryazan received a telephone report from A.A. Kartofelnikov, a resident of house No. 14/16 on Novoselov St., about a VAZ-2107 car parked near the house with a license plate partially covered with paper and unknown persons exiting the basement of the house.
A police patrol arriving at the call discovered three bags with a white powdery substance and a device consisting of a "Krona" battery, an electronic clock, and a 12-gauge hunting cartridge, apparently an electric detonator, in the basement of the specified house.
Express analyses of the discovered substance carried out on-site by explosives experts from the engineering and technical department of the Ryazan UVD OMON using "Exprei" and "M-02" detectors gave contradictory results.
Given that the discovered items bore a resemblance to improvised explosive devices used in the bombings of residential buildings in Moscow, a decision was made to evacuate the residents of the house, and the investigative department of the UFSB of Russia for the Ryazan region initiated a criminal case on this fact based on the signs of a crime provided for by Art. 30 part 3 and 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted terrorism).
To resolve the contradictions in the results of the express analysis, up to 3 kg of mass was sampled from the bags and three test detonations were carried out at a training ground; in three cases, no detonation of the substance was observed. At the same time, the discovered bags and their contents, prior to the sampling of experimental specimens, were under the constant control of employees of the UVD, UFSB, and the Department for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Ryazan region, which excluded access to them by unauthorized persons.
To examine the seized items and discovered traces, explosives, biological, and forensic examinations were ordered for the criminal case, and instructions were given for the conduct of operational-search measures.
On September 24, Director of the FSB of Russia N.P. Patrushev, during a television appearance, stated that the cache discovered in the basement of house No. 14/16 on Novoselov St. in Ryazan did not contain explosives, but was a mock explosive device used during an anti-terrorist exercise conducted by security agencies.
On 27.09.99, the criminal case was terminated for lack of a criminal event.
However, the criminal case was requested and studied by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. Based on the results of the study, on 23.11.99, the decision made by the investigator was overturned, and the case was sent for an additional investigation, during which it was proposed to complete the comprehensive explosives examination ordered in the case, identify and interrogate the officials who planned the exercises and participated in them, as well as clarify other circumstances relevant to the case.
The investigation established that in execution of certain provisions of the joint order of the Director of the FSB and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia on conducting operation "Whirlwind-Anti-terror", the command of the special unit...

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...of the FSB of Russia on 20.09.99 approved a plan-assignment, providing for the creation and dispatch of groups of simulated terrorists to individual regional centers for the purpose of checking the security status of life-support facilities and residential buildings, and assessing the effectiveness of operational-search and regime measures taken to prevent terrorist acts.
To be sent to Ryazan, a group of three people was formed, who were assigned the tasks: to arrive in the city, study the operational situation, and assess the measures taken by local law enforcement agencies to counter possible acts of terrorism. Also, to select locations convenient for committing "sabotage" (apartments on the first or second floor of multi-apartment buildings, basements, or other premises in residential buildings), purchase from 3 to 5 bags of sugar and store them in the selected location, while manufacturing and installing a mock initiating device on the bags.
In execution of the order received, on 20.09.99, the group arrived in Ryazan in a "VAZ-2107" car. During the day of 21.09.99, they studied the city, the situation, and selected the necessary object. The choice fell on house No. 14/16 on Novoselov St., as it most fully corresponded to the task set before them - a police station and a large store were located nearby, and the entrance door to the basement of the house was broken.
On the morning of 22.09.99, 3 bags of sugar and the power elements, clock, etc., necessary for manufacturing a mock initiating device were purchased at the market. A 12-gauge hunting cartridge was purchased at the "Kolchuga" store.
At about 21:00, the bags of sugar were delivered to the house and carried into the basement; a mock initiating device was attached to one of the bags.
The explosives examination conducted in the case established that the bags contained sucrose - a disaccharide based on glucopyranose and fructofuranose. No traces of high explosives (TNT, hexogen, octogen, PETN, nitroglycerin, tetryl, and picric acid) were found in the substance under study. The study of the clock, power elements, cartridge, lamp, and wires showed that although these items constituted a single electronic unit, it was not suitable for supplying voltage when the alarm clock mechanism was triggered and was not a blasting device.
In the course of the investigation, a significant volume of other investigative actions and operational-search measures were performed. The investigation of the criminal case was carried out under the constant control of the prosecutor of the Ryazan region and the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.
During the investigation, it was established that the actions of the security agency employees in organizing exercises in such a manner to check the effectiveness of measures taken by local law enforcement agencies to suppress possible acts of terrorism were carried out within the competence of the FSB of Russia.
However, the operation in Ryazan was planned and carried out in an improper manner; in particular, the issue of the limits of this event was not regulated, and no provision was made for informing representatives of local authorities or law enforcement about the training nature of the cache in the event of its discovery.