Bombings, Refugees, and the Call for a Congress

Maskhadov announces the convening of a congress of the Chechen people, which will respond to how to react to Russian aggression.

The head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Rushailo, stated yesterday that the authorities have established who planted the explosive devices in Moscow, Buynaksk, and Volgodonsk (at the same time [peri etom] more than 300 people died). He did not, however, report either the names or the nationality of the terrorists. Some perpetrators have already been arrested, the minister stated.

The Investigation into the Bombings in Moscow (04.11.99)

The Russian Federal Security Service claims that it has arrested one of the perpetrators of the September bombings in the Russian capital, which killed more than 300 people—a Chechen. Moscow received this news with disbelief (Wacław Radziwinowicz).

Yesterday at a conference at the Interfax agency, Alexander Tsarenko, head of the capital's FSB, assured journalists that the investigative teams "already have a full picture of the crime, have learned the mechanism of the terrorist acts, and know who committed them."

• The FSB, said Chernenko, arrested one of the terrorists and brought charges against him. The detainee is said to be a "member of illegal Chechen bands."
• Those conducting the investigation also established the identities of two other terrorists, who are also "members of illegal bands" and are currently hiding in Chechnya.
• Tsarenko also has absolute confidence that the September bombings in the houses on Guryanova St. and Kashirskoye Highway were "ordered by well-known terrorists Shamil Basayev and Khattab," and "partial evidence" in support of this thesis is provided by "testimony of the suspects."

Details of the Explosions

• The explosion of the house on Guryanova St. on the night of September 8-9 destroyed two entrances of one house and damaged more than ten neighboring structures. 94 people died [Pogibl].
• Five days later, another explosion completely destroyed a house on Kashirskoye Highway. There, according to some sources, 130 people could have died.
• On September 16, another explosion of a powerful charge in the center of Volgodonsk near Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia killed 17 people and damaged 40 houses, school buildings, and kindergartens.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB immediately accepted [priyali] the version that Chechens were planting the bombs. Several times, those conducting the investigation announced the names of suspects and spoke of the detention of the guilty. Time and again, they announced reports of tons of hexogen found in Moscow or in the provinces, packed in bags with the inscription "Sugar factory [zadov] in Cherkessk," an explosive material allegedly used by terrorists blowing up Russian houses.

Inconsistencies in Ryazan

In Ryazan [Ryazami], a city south of Moscow, the FSB most obviously exaggerated. There, in the basement of a house, residents found bags "with Cherkessk [cherkasskim] sugar" and an attached and switched-on clockwork remote detonator. Initially, those conducting the investigation confirmed that there was real hexogen in the bags and the detonator worked. Then the FSB admitted that, testing the vigilance of the inhabitants, they themselves planted the bomb, but not a real one, only a prop.

Russians did not pay attention to these inconsistencies and allowed themselves to be carried away [uvlch] by a wave of anti-Chechen [sntichechenskoy] hysteria. They applauded the police, who were crudely "cleansing" Moscow markets of "persons of Caucasian nationality." They enthusiastically accepted the invasion of their army into Chechnya. Public opinion polls certify that the popularity of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin [putina] is growing lightning-fast; he tries to create the impression of a firm, simply crude politician, and says that he will "waste Chechen terrorists [terroristom] in the outhouse."

Related Articles

• In the same place, an interview with K. Borovoy: The structures are in a hurry
  • "The Guardian Weekly" ("Strazh - ezhenedelnik"), London
• 16-22.09.99. Explosive wave of terror for Russia (Amelia Gentleman)

Amidst a growing sense of panic, Russian special services began on Monday a search of 30,000 residential buildings in Moscow after a powerful bomb.