Gas pipelines were blown up four times near Chekhov, Podolsk, and Bronnitsy in the Moscow region.
On March 15, militants planted bombs under three power line pylons near the Simferopol highway.
Shamil Basaev claimed responsibility for these actions.
Hiding and the Samara Bombing
After these events, the militants went into hiding.
According to some reports, they were hiding in the Moscow or Volgograd regions.
During this period, Kosolapov introduced a resident of his farmstead to Erkingali Taizhanov.
Soon the woman converted to Islam and married the Kazakh.
Together they went to Samara.
As Taizhanov's wife later said during interrogations, one day he brought home a time bomb and said that he had "found a suitable place for it."
Soon Toleubai came to visit him, and on June 4, an explosion occurred at the Samara clothing market, during which 11 people were killed and another 71 were injured.
When a report about this terrorist attack was shown on television in the evening, Taizhanov joyfully told his wife: "Look, I did it."
Then he went somewhere and returned with 3 thousand euros, explaining that this was the fee for the explosion.
Soon Taizhanov and Toleubai moved to their native Kazakhstan.
Continued Operations
Other members of Kosolapov's sabotage group continued to operate.
According to intelligence services, back on February 19, militants carried out a test explosion near the "Voenny Gorodok" bus stop in Voronezh, during which two people received concussions.
On July 19 and 26, Kosolapov's saboteurs staged new terrorist attacks at bus stops in Voronezh.
Then one person died and ten were injured.
Investigation into the Samara Explosion
The Samara Region Prosecutor's Office, investigating the explosion at the local market, initially suspected that it was connected to showdowns between criminal groups for control over traders.
20 people from the circle of the influential businessman Said Tsentroev were arrested, but they were soon released.
Investigators later found out that the terrorist attack was carried out by Kosolapov's group.
Arrests and Suicide
Taizhanov, against whom his wife gave testimony, was immediately put on the wanted list.
On September 3, he was detained in Kazakhstan with drugs, and soon materials from Russia arrived there regarding the militant's involvement in the market bombing.
As soon as Taizhanov learned that investigators from the Samara regional prosecutor's office had left to interrogate him, he hanged himself in his cell.
Toleubai's Surrender and Legal Issues
In November, Toleubai unexpectedly surrendered to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan.
He admitted participation in illegal armed groups in Chechnya, but stated that he had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks in Russia.
According to Toleubai's version, he came to Samara shortly before the explosion allegedly to pay off a debt to Taizhanov.
When the question of Toleubai's extradition arose, various legal difficulties immediately appeared.
Kazakhstan, like most countries, does not extradite its citizens to other states.
Instead, the local prosecutor general's office proposed to hold a trial for the detainee based on the materials of the Russian criminal case.
In these materials, Toleubai still appears as a witness, and, as investigators note, in the absence of a suspect, it is difficult to prove his guilt.
The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation asked to hand over Toleubai for a while—to conduct investigative actions.
However, according to the laws of Kazakhstan, this is possible only with the consent of the arrested person, which Toleubai did not give.
Therefore, temporary extradition to Russia was also refused the other day.