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General Prosecutor's Office
of the Russian Federation
ul. B. Dmitrovka, 15a
Moscow, Russia, GSP-9, 101999
22.04.02 No. 27/1-53s-99

To the Chairman of the Security Committee
of the State Duma of the Federal
Assembly of the Russian Federation
Gurov A. I.

Dear Alexander Ivanovich!

In connection with your request, I am sending information on the results of the investigation of criminal cases regarding the facts of the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow, Volgodonsk and the discovery of explosive devices in Ryazan.

Attachment: 7 pages.

Deputy Prosecutor General
of the Russian Federation
State Counselor of Justice
1st Class [signature] V. V. Kolmogorov

[Stamp: State Duma of the FS RF UDO Date 24.04.2002 Time 14:17 No. 201726-3; AV No. 3.15-1571-2]

FEDERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
STATE DUMA
SECURITY COMMITTEE
103265, Moscow, ul. Okhotny Ryad, 1 Tel. 292 89 32, fax 292 95 75
"26" 04 2002 No. 3.15 - 18/601

To the Chairman of the State Duma
of the Federal Assembly
of the Russian Federation
G.N. SELEZNYOV

Dear Gennadiy Nikolaevich!

In accordance with the instruction of the State Duma dated March 20, 2002 (protocol No. 183), information from the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation is presented, which was received by the State Duma Security Committee at the suggestion of State Duma deputy A.D. Kulikov.

Attachment: 8 pages.

With respect,
Committee Chairman [signature] A.I. Gurov

[Stamp: Incoming No. 1.1-4205 06 MAY 2002]
[Stamp: State Duma of the FS RF UDO Date 06.05.2002 Time 14:26 No. vn3.15-18/601; 1.1 No. 26]
[Stamp: Apparatus of the State Duma DOCUMENTATION SUPPORT DEPARTMENT Information for State Duma deputies No. 12-7-05 2002]

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INFORMATION
on the results of the investigation of criminal cases
initiated on the facts of explosions in the cities of Moscow,
Volgodonsk, as well as the conduct of exercises in
the city of Ryazan

I. Explosions in Moscow

The Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia continues the investigation of acts of terrorism committed in September 1999 in the city of Moscow — explosions of two residential buildings at 19 Guryanova St. and 6 Kashirskoye Highway, bldg. 3, as a result of which 228 people died.
In accordance with the developed plan for their investigation, in cooperation with operational units of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 1,296 interrogations of witnesses and victims, 76 identifications, 44 seizures, and 254 inspections of objects and documents significant for the case, 81 searches, and 490 various forensic examinations were carried out.
As a result of the complex of investigative actions and operational-search measures, exhaustive evidence was obtained regarding the commission of the investigated acts of terrorism by an organized criminal group from among the members of Chechen illegal armed formations under the leadership of A. Sh. Gochiyayev, which, in addition to him, included Yu. I. Krymshamkhalov, T. A. Batchaev, A. O. Dekkushev, D. F. Saitakov, and Kh. M. Abaev, and a number of other persons.
On the basis of procedurally established data on the role and degree of participation of each of them in the preparation and implementation of the apartment bombings, resolutions were issued to charge them, to apply a preventive measure in the form of detention, and they have all been placed on federal and international wanted lists.
In addition, the evidence available in the case clearly indicates the fact that the direct organizers of the investigated acts of terrorism are the leaders of the IAF [Illegal Armed Formations], foreign mercenaries of Arab origin Khattab and Abu Umar (according to the Department for the Protection of the Constitutional Order and the Fight against Terrorism of the FSB of Russia, the latter was killed in July 2001 during a counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya). Currently, the issue of bringing Khattab to criminal responsibility for organizing the apartment bombings in Moscow has been resolved, and a search for him has been announced.
At the same time, during the search for criminals in the zones of counter-terrorist operations in March 2000, a second criminal group was identified and neutralized, prepared by Khattab's deputy, the Arab mercenary Abu Al-Walid Al-Ghamidi (brought to criminal responsibility on 08.01.02 and placed on the wanted list), under the leadership of the accused A. Sh. Gochiyayev, consisting of IAF members: M. Bostanov, A. Bostanov, T. Frantsuzov, M. Tuganbaev, and M. Baimukov, which was equipped and sent from the territory of Chechnya to commit further acts of terrorism in the city of Moscow and other cities in the North Caucasus.
Despite the measures taken, Gochiyayev managed to hide, and the detained members of his group were brought to criminal responsibility and convicted by the Stavropol Krai Court on November 14, 2001, for committing crimes provided for by Part 1 of Art. 30, Part 3 of Art. 205 (attempted terrorism), Part 2 of Art. 208 (participation in illegal armed formations), and Part 3 of Art. 222 (illegal acquisition, storage, and carrying of firearms) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, to long terms of imprisonment.
In the course of further work to search for the named criminals, procedural evidence was obtained, which reliably established that currently the accused Gochiyayev, Abaev, Krymshamkhalov, Dekkushev, and Batchaev are outside the Russian Federation, in one of the CIS countries. Measures are being taken to organize their arrest and transfer to Russian law enforcement agencies for prosecution.
The investigation of the criminal case is under the constant control of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

II. Explosion in Volgodonsk

The specified criminal case was initiated on September 16, 1999, by the investigative department of the FSB Directorate for the Rostov Region on the grounds of a crime provided for by Art. 105 Part 2 paragraphs 'a', 'e', 'zh' and Art. 205 Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder and terrorism), on the fact of the explosion of an improvised explosive device on the same day at entrance 4 of building No. 35 on Oktyabrskoye Shosse in the city of Volgodonsk, Rostov Region.
As a result of the explosion, the facade part of Section I of the house (entrances 3 and 4) collapsed. From the ensuing consequences, more than 1,300 people sought medical help in the city's medical institutions, of whom 89 people were hospitalized (including 16 children). 18 dead were extracted from the rubble, including 2 children; another victim died in the hospital. 37 nearby houses were damaged, in 25 of which window frames and glass were blown out by the blast wave; the supply of electricity, gas, and water was interrupted.
At the site of the explosion, a crater 3.5 meters deep and 13-15 meters in diameter was formed. Fragments of the GAZ-53 vehicle, in which the explosive device was located, scattered within a radius of 1.5 km (according to the conclusion of the explosives technical examination, it was established that the power of the explosive device used in the commission of the crime in TNT equivalent is 800-1,800 kg).
By a joint order dated 16.09.1999 of the prosecutor of the Rostov region, the heads of the GUVD and the UFSB of the region, an interdepartmental investigative-operational group was created, which included investigators from the prosecutor's office, the SU UVD of Volgodonsk, and the investigative department of the UFSB for the region.
As a result of urgently conducted investigative actions and operational-search measures, it was established that the improvised explosive device was in a GAZ-53 truck with a 'MEBEL' [FURNITURE] box, state license plate Ts

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... [license plate?] belonging to Iskenderov A.I.-O., residing in Volgodonsk, Oktyabrskoye Shosse, bldg. 35, apt. 39, who for three years had parked it near his entrance.
On September 16, 1999, Iskenderov A.I.-O. was detained under Art. 122 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the RSFSR on suspicion of involvement in the commission of this crime. It was subsequently established that Iskanderov [sic] had no connection to the commission of the act of terrorism.
During interrogations, Iskenderov testified that on September 13, 1999, at a truck parking lot in Volgodonsk, he met three individuals, natives of the North Caucasus ethnic groups, who arrived in the city in a "GAZ" vehicle, allegedly to sell potatoes. They bought the vehicle from him, explaining that it was needed to deliver more than 10 tons of potatoes to the city's markets. On the same day, they gave Iskenderov 300 US dollars and 2,000 rubles as payment. The formalization of the sale-purchase transaction was supposed to take place on September 16.
As established by the investigation, on the same day, on the territory of motorcade No. 2070 in Volgodonsk, explosives were loaded into the truck's body and an explosive device was installed; all of this was camouflaged from above with loose potatoes.
On September 15, 1999, at the request of the buyers, Iskenderov drove the vehicle to its usual place near his house so that the next morning he could take the potatoes to the market, and after their sale, proceed with the formalization of the vehicle's sale-purchase documents. On the night of September 15 to 16, 1999, at the request of the buyers, he guarded the vehicle with the cargo. At 5:00 AM, he returned to his apartment to warm up. At 5:57 AM on September 16, the explosive device installed in the vehicle detonated.
Immediately during the operational-search activities and investigative actions, all paid parking lots for cars and trucks in the city, gas stations, auto repair shops, motorcade No. 2070, the communications hub, banks, hotels, recreation centers, cafes, bars, restaurants, and other places of possible stay for the criminals were checked.
An analysis and synthesis of all available operational and other information regarding persons who arrived from the North Caucasus region, temporarily or permanently residing in the city and nearby areas, and their connections, was conducted.
As a result of the measures taken, it was established that the following participated in the preparation and direct execution of the explosion:
Krymshamkhalov Yusuf Ibragimovich, born in 1966, a native of the Adyge-Khablsky district of the Stavropol Territory, Karachay, having a secondary education, in a common-law marriage, having one minor child, unemployed, registered at the address: Stavropol Territory, Kislovodsk, Lineynaya St., 46;
Batchaev Timur Amurovich, born in 1978, a native of the village of Tereze, Malo-Karachaevsky district of the Stavropol Territory, Karachay, registered there at Khalilov St., 25, having a secondary education, single, temporarily unemployed;

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Dekkushev Adam Osmanovich, born in 1962, a native of the city of Karachaevsk, Stavropol Territory, Karachay, residing there at Lenin St., 75, secondary education, married, having two minor children, unemployed;
On September 18, 1999, full information was established regarding the "KAMAZ" and "Moskvich" vehicles used by the criminals for movement and delivery of explosives to Volgodonsk.
On September 19, 1999, the "KAMAZ" was found in Karachaevsk in the courtyard of Dekkushev's house, where it had been since September 16, 1999. This vehicle was seized, an inspection was carried out, and traces of explosives were found in the body.
On September 19, 1999, the investigative department of the UFSB of Russia for the Rostov Region issued decrees to bring Krymshamkhalov, Batchaev, and Dekkushev as defendants in the case for committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and they were placed on the wanted list. A preventive measure—detention—was chosen for them.
According to received operational information, after the crime was committed, the wanted persons fled to the Chechen Republic.
During the investigation of the case, the involvement of the defendants in illegal armed groups of the Chechen Republic was established; data was obtained on their undergoing sabotage training at the "Kavkaz" center and their presence in the units of Khattab and Abu-Dhafar.
The guilt of Krymshamkhalov, Dekkushev, and Batchaev in committing the terrorist act is fully confirmed by the testimony of more than 200 witnesses, protocols of identification of the defendants by photographs, protocols of seizures, searches, and inspections.
Operational units of law enforcement agencies are conducting a federal search for the defendants, and an international search has been organized.
900 expert examinations were conducted in the case, including 855 forensic medical ones, as well as explosives, fingerprinting, biological-forensic, chemical, complex, and others.
847 citizens were interrogated and recognized as victims in the case (a significant number of citizens affected by the crime left the Rostov region).
Investigative actions and operational-search measures in the case were carried out in Moscow, Kislovodsk, Nevinnomyssk, Cherkessk, Nalchik, Karachaevsk, and a number of other settlements in the Russian Federation.
The term of the preliminary investigation in the case was extended by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation to 33 months, that is, until June 16, 2002.
The progress of the criminal investigation is under special control of the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, S.N. Fridinsky.

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[Ryazan]

On 22.09.99 at 21:15, the Dashkovo-Pesochinskoye department of the Oktyabrsky ROVD of Ryazan received a telephone report from A.A. Kartofelnikov, a resident of house No. 14/16 on Novoselov St., about a VAZ-2107 car parked near the house with a license plate partially covered with paper and unknown persons exiting the basement of the house.
A police patrol arriving at the call discovered three bags with a white powdery substance and a device consisting of a "Krona" battery, an electronic clock, and a 12-gauge hunting cartridge, apparently an electric detonator, in the basement of the specified house.
Express analyses of the discovered substance carried out on-site by explosives experts from the engineering and technical department of the Ryazan UVD OMON using "Exprei" and "M-02" detectors gave contradictory results.
Given that the discovered items bore a resemblance to improvised explosive devices used in the bombings of residential buildings in Moscow, a decision was made to evacuate the residents of the house, and the investigative department of the UFSB of Russia for the Ryazan region initiated a criminal case on this fact based on the signs of a crime provided for by Art. 30 part 3 and 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted terrorism).
To resolve the contradictions in the results of the express analysis, up to 3 kg of mass was sampled from the bags and three test detonations were carried out at a training ground; in three cases, no detonation of the substance was observed. At the same time, the discovered bags and their contents, prior to the sampling of experimental specimens, were under the constant control of employees of the UVD, UFSB, and the Department for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Ryazan region, which excluded access to them by unauthorized persons.
To examine the seized items and discovered traces, explosives, biological, and forensic examinations were ordered for the criminal case, and instructions were given for the conduct of operational-search measures.
On September 24, Director of the FSB of Russia N.P. Patrushev, during a television appearance, stated that the cache discovered in the basement of house No. 14/16 on Novoselov St. in Ryazan did not contain explosives, but was a mock explosive device used during an anti-terrorist exercise conducted by security agencies.
On 27.09.99, the criminal case was terminated for lack of a criminal event.
However, the criminal case was requested and studied by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. Based on the results of the study, on 23.11.99, the decision made by the investigator was overturned, and the case was sent for an additional investigation, during which it was proposed to complete the comprehensive explosives examination ordered in the case, identify and interrogate the officials who planned the exercises and participated in them, as well as clarify other circumstances relevant to the case.
The investigation established that in execution of certain provisions of the joint order of the Director of the FSB and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia on conducting operation "Whirlwind-Anti-terror", the command of the special unit...

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...of the FSB of Russia on 20.09.99 approved a plan-assignment, providing for the creation and dispatch of groups of simulated terrorists to individual regional centers for the purpose of checking the security status of life-support facilities and residential buildings, and assessing the effectiveness of operational-search and regime measures taken to prevent terrorist acts.
To be sent to Ryazan, a group of three people was formed, who were assigned the tasks: to arrive in the city, study the operational situation, and assess the measures taken by local law enforcement agencies to counter possible acts of terrorism. Also, to select locations convenient for committing "sabotage" (apartments on the first or second floor of multi-apartment buildings, basements, or other premises in residential buildings), purchase from 3 to 5 bags of sugar and store them in the selected location, while manufacturing and installing a mock initiating device on the bags.
In execution of the order received, on 20.09.99, the group arrived in Ryazan in a "VAZ-2107" car. During the day of 21.09.99, they studied the city, the situation, and selected the necessary object. The choice fell on house No. 14/16 on Novoselov St., as it most fully corresponded to the task set before them - a police station and a large store were located nearby, and the entrance door to the basement of the house was broken.
On the morning of 22.09.99, 3 bags of sugar and the power elements, clock, etc., necessary for manufacturing a mock initiating device were purchased at the market. A 12-gauge hunting cartridge was purchased at the "Kolchuga" store.
At about 21:00, the bags of sugar were delivered to the house and carried into the basement; a mock initiating device was attached to one of the bags.
The explosives examination conducted in the case established that the bags contained sucrose - a disaccharide based on glucopyranose and fructofuranose. No traces of high explosives (TNT, hexogen, octogen, PETN, nitroglycerin, tetryl, and picric acid) were found in the substance under study. The study of the clock, power elements, cartridge, lamp, and wires showed that although these items constituted a single electronic unit, it was not suitable for supplying voltage when the alarm clock mechanism was triggered and was not a blasting device.
In the course of the investigation, a significant volume of other investigative actions and operational-search measures were performed. The investigation of the criminal case was carried out under the constant control of the prosecutor of the Ryazan region and the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.
During the investigation, it was established that the actions of the security agency employees in organizing exercises in such a manner to check the effectiveness of measures taken by local law enforcement agencies to suppress possible acts of terrorism were carried out within the competence of the FSB of Russia.
However, the operation in Ryazan was planned and carried out in an improper manner; in particular, the issue of the limits of this event was not regulated, and no provision was made for informing representatives of local authorities or law enforcement about the training nature of the cache in the event of its discovery.

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At the same time, the actions of the FSB of Russia employees did not have socially dangerous [consequen]ces and did not result in the violation of rights and inter[ests] protected by law.

Taking these circumstances into account, on March 22, 2000, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Rus[sian] Federation made a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case in [relat]ion to officials of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federa[tion] [inv]olved in conducting exercises in the city of Ryazan, due to the absence of a [corp]us delicti in their actions.
On April 6, 2000, upon completion of all [activ]ities planned for the criminal case, the preliminary investigation was terminated due to the ab[sen]ce of the event of a crime.
No grounds for canceling the decision made in the case have been identified.

[Hea]d of the Department for Supervision of the [Execu]tion of Laws on Federal [Secur]ity of the Prosecutor General's [Office of the Ru]ssian Federation [Signature] V.A. Titov