A responsible representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the authors of the attacks in Moscow and Volgodonsk are the same.
Witnesses at the scene of the latest crime in Volgodonsk tracked a person already wanted for organizing explosions in the capital.
This individual is described as a Wahhabi originating from one of the North Caucasian Republics, but not from Chechnya.
Russian authorities consider the Chechen trail to be the primary one.
Accusations and Government Response
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin directly accused Islamist leaders Shamil Basayev and Khattab of financing the terrorist attacks, defining both as "terrorists."
The Kremlin demanded that Chechen President Alsan Maskhadov "immediately put an end to their activities" on the territory of the independentist republic.
The Russian press has not ruled out a military operation against regions of Chechnya bordering Dagestan, where Islamist bases are located.
The Russian government is also considering economic sanctions against Chechnya, specifically a blockade of its territory.
The Rostov region is considered a potential target.
Arrests and Fugitives
Moscow police announced the arrest of 27 persons potentially involved in the recent explosions.
Authorities admit that the authors of the terrorist attacks have fled the capital to take refuge in Chechnya to prepare new attacks.
The Rostov region, where many divisions of the Russian army involved in battles with Islamists in Dagestan are based, is constantly considered a potential target.
Two months prior, the Federal Security Service (the ex-KGB) warned that Chechen terrorists were preparing actions against civilian targets in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, and Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia.
Conflicting Claims and Theories
No one claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Volgodonsk, unlike the attacks in Moscow.
A man speaking with a strong Caucasian accent told the ITAR-TASS agency on Wednesday that the explosions in the capital were organized by the Dagestan Liberation Army, unknown until then, to avenge Russian operations against Islamists in the Caucasus.
Yesterday morning, Moscow authorities announced the arrest of alleged organizers of another terrorist attack—the one that destroyed a residential building for military families in Buynaksk, Dagestan, on September 4 (64 victims).
While the names of the alleged terrorists were not reported, Russian mass media believes they are Islamists who arrived from Chechnya.
Valery Yakov, editor-in-chief of the daily "Novye Izvestia," suggested that terrorist attacks always have two trails: the Chechen and the Chekist (referring to the Soviet Secret Services, NKVD).
Yakov stated he could not rule out that some forces in Russia are interested in sowing panic to introduce a state of emergency, cancel elections, and prolong the reign of Boris Yeltsin.
Another Moscow newspaper, "Moskovsky Komsomolets," linked the capital's mayor Yuri Luzhkov to Boris Berezovsky, a press tycoon and billionaire close to the Yeltsin family, accusing him of maintaining regular contacts with terrorist leaders.
The newspaper published a long telephone conversation between Berezovsky and two Chechen commanders that occurred shortly after the Islamist invasion of Dagestan.
On Wednesday evening, the NTV television channel aired a tape presented by the daily's editor-in-chief, showing a conversation between two terrorists and a person with the voice and intonations of Berezovsky.
Berezovsky, who was hospitalized, had not commented. His circle suggested the incident was a provocation organized by the special services and Luzhkov, an enemy of Berezovsky, while hostile media wished he be tried for high treason if the information was confirmed.
Conclusion
A bomb killed 14 people yesterday at dawn in Volgodonsk, an ordinary city in southwestern Russia, which was not specifically predicted as a target.
The attack in Volgodonsk demonstrates that nothing and no one in Russia is protected from bombs. Volgodonsk is described as the Russian hinterland, a faceless city of 200,000 inhabitants in the south.