Explosive Characteristics and Forensic Findings

Explosion Dynamics

The explosion involves a component that is fully consumed during the event. Simultaneously, a large amount of heat is released, and a significant amount of oxygen is burned. This process creates an airless space at the explosion site, resulting in a high temperature that prevents any living organisms from surviving.

Manufacturing Possibilities

Mironov noted that a mixture used in the explosion could be prepared under relatively simple conditions:
* "The option for manufacturing the explosive is relatively simple (...), because it consists of substances that can be found almost in the kitchen."

However, this contrasts with earlier identification:
* The general initially identified plastid.
* Plastid (or PVV-4) is a hexogen-containing mixture that is almost exclusively of industrial production and cannot be cooked in a pot.

Forensic Evidence from Terrorist Case

A document from the closed trial concerning the terrorists confirms the presence of hexogen:
* Materials from volume 3 of criminal case No. 18/230300-02 testify that hexogen was indeed present in the explosives used in the apartment building bombings.

Official Expert Conclusion

On December 8, 1999, the forensic laboratory (military unit 34435) issued an official conclusion following a request from the UFSB for the Rostov region regarding the Volgodonsk apartment building explosion (under criminal case No. 173).

Expert Conclusion No. 4/197 stated:

"We, employees of the forensic laboratory of military unit No. 34435, Vinogradova Tatyana Viktorovna, Stovbur Konstantin Nikolaevich, in connection with the assignment to perform an expert examination for criminal case No. 173, were warned by the head of the expert institution under Article 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation about the responsibility for giving a knowingly false conclusion (...). The study was conducted using methods of optical microscopy, high-performance thin-layer chromatography (...), ion chromatography (...), chromatography-mass spectrometry (...). Based on the physical and chemical studies conducted, the following conclusions can be drawn. As an explosive charge, (...) an explosive was used, which included TNT, hexogen and, most likely, aluminum, and in addition, ammonium nitrate or a combination of the substances listed above and explosives based on them could have been included (...)."

Key Takeaway: The official expert examination confirmed the presence of hexogen long before General Zdanovich made public statements denying its presence.

Contradictions and Questions

The discrepancy between the official expert findings and the subsequent public statements by General Zdanovich raises significant concerns:

• Why the contradictory self-expression?
• Were these issues due to internal contradictions or failures within the FSB information system?
• Why did no official representative correct General Zdanovich on the NTV program, despite the expert examination confirming hexogen?
• What prompted the urgent need to deny the presence of hexogen or speak vaguely about it?

Questions Following Official Statements

While some might dismiss these contradictions as routine confusion within the security agency, the rapid evolution of the explosive used in the terrorist attacks—from containing hexogen to a supposed "hexogen-free" version—raises critical questions regarding the coordination of national security activities.

• How do the agency's employees coordinate activities if they are not consistently confident in their own findings?
• What explains the shift in the reported composition of the explosive?