Document Excerpt

Section 1

He is happy. Released from the unit, dressed in civilian clothes, given twenty dollars—what else does he need? But he doesn't know that the officers at this time are participating in a criminal showdown where tens, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being divided.

...An officer cannot come alone. And they are healthy, strong, shaved-headed. Dress any special forces soldier in civilian clothes, and he looks like a bandit. There he stands, everyone looks at him, as if a bandit group has arrived. But in reality, these are soldiers on leave. No one checks their documents...

Section 2

...After '95, the fight against terrorism moved from the criminal plane to the political one. In '96, I was appointed head of the department for searching for terrorists placed on the international wanted list. Documents arrived regarding the former chairman of the Georgian KGB, Igor Giorgadze. He was suspected of organizing an assassination attempt on Shevardnadze.

I had an agent who was on good terms with Giorgadze's brother, David. I met with him personally. When the papers on Igor arrived, I established his location through the agent. And he even invited me to the bathhouse, saying, "If you want, let's go together." I went to the deputy head of the department, Mironov, and reported:

• Ivan Kuzmich! I found Giorgadze; he's wanted for terrorism. We can detain him tonight and hand him over to the Georgian side.

Mironov looked at me as if to say: what, have you completely lost your mind?

• Don't touch him, don't go near him! This is big politics, and there's no reason for you to detain him...

Section 3

...I heard how a general of the internal troops, who fought in the first Chechen war, said: "To this day I cannot understand why the decree to suspend military operations was signed. It was a betrayal of the army."

The general did not know how much that decree cost.... The entire Russian army was in shock. After all, in fact, the Chechens then, in the summer of 1995, had been driven into the mountains, and they had lost command of their troops. The militants were going home. There was no communication, nothing. Victory had effectively been won. And then a decree is signed, the troops are withdrawn and given the chance to restore their strength, resources, and capture Grozny.

In short, when the Chechens were driven into the mountains and their situation became catastrophic—money was demanded from Dudayev... for the suspension of military operations. Through Basaev. Several million. And Dudayev paid: he had no choice. After that, they decided to simply screw over the Chechens. Take the money, but not suspend the military operations.

Then Basaev seized Budyonnovsk...