Correspondence and Interview Transcript

Letter to Comrade Major

To: Comrade Major
From: Alexander
Subject: Meeting regarding recent events in Moscow

Body:
Alexander is writing to you. We need to meet with you regarding the events that recently took place in Moscow.

We arrived from Chechnya on August 21 in a group of 10 people; the group is led by Turpal Karkaroev.

I cannot find anyone in the FSB, but I trust you.

Respectfully,
Alexander K.

I will call you today.

Note Received By: V.Ya. Izmailov on the afternoon of September 8, 1999.

Radio Interview Transcript

Program: Radio "Echo of Moscow"
Participants: Sergey KORZUN (Interviewer) and Major Vyacheslav IZMAILOV (Interviewee)

Sergey KORZUN:
Why do you think no one has taken responsibility (well, if we exclude that phone call, a completely anonymous one, from a person with a Caucasian accent) for these explosions—Buynaksk and three times in Moscow? If the handwriting is the same... What are they trying to achieve? Is it just terror, so to speak, so that people look in all directions out of horror?

Major Vyacheslav IZMAILOV:
There is an example of this, and the scheme is known. Remember when our troops were finishing off the bandits in Chechnya? It was late May – June 1995. Basaev commits a terrorist act—a raid on Budyonnovsk. And then they played into his hands, and then the war changed a bit, it followed a different scenario. So the hope is that... it was correctly stated in the media today, I agree: that the population will get scared, the population will panic, and will demand the return of our servicemen from the combat zones. This is what the terrorists are counting on.

Summary of Key Points

• Travel Group: Arrived from Chechnya on August 21 (Group led by Turpal Karkaroev).
• Document Receipt Date: September 8, 1999.
• Interview Focus: Responsibility for explosions in Buynaksk and Moscow.
• Historical Precedent Cited: The Basaev raid on Budyonnovsk in May–June 1995.
• Terrorist Goal (According to IZMAILOV): To cause public panic and pressure for the return of servicemen from combat zones.