Lubyanka Vector: September Terror
September Terror Collection
Materials about the apartment bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk
Supplement to issue 7
LUBYANKA VECTOR Report of the Moscow research group Mark Ulensh
Contents
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CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
- Krasnodarskaya Street: Terrorist's mistake?
- Borisov Ponds: Thank you, doctor!
- Guryanova Street
- Sea bird and ship of the desert (chapter currently missing)
- Kashirskoye Highway: One's own are those who pay
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THE ACCUSED ACCUSE
- Letters of repentance
- Perovsky trail?
-
PREDICTIONS
- Chechen trail leading to Lubyanka
-
Volunteer Anatoly Viktorovich Mylnikov
-
Perovsky trail again?
-
VECTOR
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MISCELLANEOUS
- Uzbek trail
- Something about Ryazan
- They are no longer being sought
- What happened in the last two years
Timeline of Events
| Date | Event Description |
|---|---|
| 14.11.2001 | A closed court in Stavropol sentenced five Karachays to terms ranging from 9 to 15 years on charges of preparing terrorist acts. The original charge of complicity in organizing the apartment bombings in 1999 was dropped for all defendants. |
| 24.4.2002 | A letter from Achimez Gochiyayev is dated this day (published 24.7.2002). |
| 17.7.2002 | One of the accused, Adam Dekkushev, was detained. |
| 28.7.2002 | A letter from Yusuf Krymshamkhalov and Batchayev is dated this day (published in December 2002, received by the media before 7.12.2002). |
| 20.8.2002 | A video interview of Achimez Gochiyayev is dated this day (its text was handed over by Felshtinsky and Alexander Litvinenko to journalists and the Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov Commission in February 2003). |
| 7.12.2002 | Accused Yusuf Krymshamkhalov was detained. Accused Timur Batchayev died during an arrest attempt. |
| 14.5.2003 | Kislovodsk traffic police officer Lyubichev was sentenced to four years in prison for aiding the accused Yusuf Krymshamkhalov. |
| 23.6.2003 | Detention of 'werewolves in epaulettes'. One of them, Evgeny Taratorin, had previously told journalists about his active participation in the investigation of the apartment bombings. A few days later, the head of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, Viktor Trutnev, was dismissed from his post. In 1999, Trutnev headed the criminal investigation department of the South-Eastern District of Moscow, which includes Guryanova Street, Krasnodarskaya Street, and Borisov Ponds. |
| 31.10.2003 | A closed trial of Adam Dekkushev and Yusuf Krymshamkhalov began in the Moscow City Court. |
Unverified Accounts and Alternative Theories Regarding Achimez Gochiyayev
The circumstances surrounding Achimez Gochiyayev's release are unclear, and his subsequent whereabouts are also unknown. Several theories exist regarding where he went immediately after his release:
- Moscow: According to one version, he traveled to Moscow, which led to his notoriety.
- St. Petersburg (Piter): Another account suggests he went to St. Petersburg to recover from beatings sustained in the Cherkessk pre-trial detention center.
- Chechnya: A third possibility points to Chechnya.
The "Wrong Gochiyayev" Hypothesis
The author presents a hypothesis, developed during an oral conversation, suggesting the possibility of a "wrong Gochiyayev"—that his name might have been used to cover for another individual who shared certain similarities with him.
This hypothesis is supported by testimony from other suspects:
- Frantsuzov (Gochiyayev's son-in-law), who was later detained and convicted.
- Murat and Aslan Bostanov.
These individuals testified that during the September bombings in Moscow, while in Urus-Martan, they learned about the bombings from television news. At that moment, Gochiyayev (who was with them) allegedly stated: "They think I'm involved in this." This testimony reportedly contradicts Gochiyayev's own confessions.
Witness Statements and Early Documentation
On November 11, 2003, an article titled "Photorobot of Not the First Freshness" was published in "Moskovskie Novosti". This article was compiled using two witness statements:
- Mikhail Trepashkin, who visited the editorial office the day before his arrest.
- Mark Blumenfeld, the former owner of the warehouse on Guryanov Street, whose account formed the basis of the first photorobot on the night of September 8-9.
Statement from Mark Blumenfeld
Mark Blumenfeld provided the following account:
"In Lefortovo, they showed me a photograph of some person," says Blumenfeld, "they said it was Gochiyayev and that I supposedly rented the basement to him. I replied that I had never seen this person. But I was strongly recommended to recognize Gochiyayev. I understood everything and didn't argue anymore, I signed the testimony. (...) The photo depicted a man with a simple face, but the one who came and to whom I rented the premises looked like an intellectual. I got the impression that he was Jewish. Moreover, a Jew with Caucasian roots. I repeatedly stated this to the investigation."
Note on Accuracy: For clarification, Blumenfeld's name is Mario, and he rented out a room on the first floor, not a basement.
Investigation of the Episode at Borisovskie Prudy
An investigation of the episode at Borisovskie Prudy could answer the question: did Achimez Gochiyayev himself really call the city's emergency services and warn about the bombs planted here and on Krasnodarskaya? Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to make a definitive conclusion.
Resident Testimony
Almost all the residents of the house we interviewed (four out of five) confidently asserted that they were evacuated on the 13th, the day of the second explosion, in the first half of the day (the range was from noon to 2:00 PM).
- Police officers rang apartment doorbells.
- A car with loudspeakers stood opposite the house.
- Neighboring houses were also evacuated.
- Traffic on the street was blocked several hundred meters from house 16.
According to neighbors, one of the residents reported the bomb to the police by phone: she saw bags of sugar being brought into the premises and found it strange that they were not picked up for several days.
Official Inquiry and Responses
The Chairman of the Public Commission for the investigation of house bombings (hereinafter the Commission), Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov, sent a deputy inquiry to the services mentioned in the terrorist's penitent letter: the police, the "ambulance" service, and the rescue service.
The inquiry contained a request to answer: were warnings received about explosives planted at Borisovskie Prudy and in Kapotnya (this is how the terrorist named these places)?
- A substantive response was sent only by the city's civil defense and emergency situations service.
- As the rescuers write, they received a report about explosives planted at Borisovskie Prudy from the "ambulance" service on September 13 at 2:08 PM.
This does not contradict the witnesses' testimony about the time of discovery. In principle, it also does not contradict Achimez Gochiyayev's words that he called "immediately" as soon as he learned about the second explosion, although even the earliest moment—before noon—is, of course, not "immediately."
Analysis of Reporting Channels
It can be assumed that a vigilant woman had the strange idea to report the bags not to the police, but to doctors: perhaps she did this while calling a doctor to her home or undergoing some procedure. However:
- Achimez Gochiyayev could not have known about this (in any case, we were unable to find a single publication that could have suggested this to him).
- We consider the probability that he simply guessed the channel through which the warning about the bomb was received to be quite small.
- Of course, in his confession, he listed three emergency services, but "ambulance" looks quite unusual in this list.
The rescuers deny that there was a simultaneous warning about Kapotnya. Furthermore, the Commission, as far as we know, was unable to contact them further and clarify the inquiry. After all, Krasnodarskaya Street is, strictly speaking, not Kapotnya, although it is close to it. It is more like Lyublino.
Warehouse Discovery and Inspection Data
The discovery of the warehouse on Krasnodarskaya purely by chance just a day after the start of mass checks is very unlikely.
- The warehouse was found, according to a police report, on September 14 (although its contents were removed for some reason on September 16; it can be assumed that an ambush for terrorists was held here).
- Already on September 15, the Main Internal Affairs Directorate (GUVD) published its request for drivers of light trucks who carried cargo from house 70 on Krasnodarskaya in the first days of September to respond.
- On the same day, it was announced that a "Mercedes" trailer that brought explosives from the Stavropol Krai was found at the 51st kilometer of the Moscow Ring Road.
Inspection Statistics
On September 14, the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate reported:
- 7,908 premises on the first floors of buildings, basements, and semi-basements were inspected in 24 hours.
- Ten days later, the final figure was reported: a total of over 110,000 attics and about 115,000 basements were inspected.
Thus, the probability of finding both remaining warehouses in the first 24 hours is about three percent. This probability will not increase much even if we assume that in the first 24 hours only premises in the South-Eastern District were inspected, but this is not the case.
This is also Krasnodarskaya, 70
The address "Krasnodarskaya, 70" itself then covered a huge territory on three sides of the intersection near the "Moskva" shopping center. On this territory—and a large warehouse building...
THE ACCUSED ACCUSE
Letters of Repentance
The news cycle began with the appearance on March 5, 2002, of Yuri Felshtinsky's film "Assassination of Russia" — about the lies surrounding the Ryazan "exercises." Despite its brilliance and persuasiveness, the film was not fatal for the chekists, but for some reason, it was from this moment that events began to unfold.
- At the end of March, Khattab was poisoned (as the FSB wrote on its website, "as a result of a successfully conducted operation").
- Around the same time, the same service published photographs "found on a Chechen militant," where Khattab was allegedly photographed together with Achimez Gochiyayev.
- Around that same time, Gochiyayev's letter was written (it is dated April 24, but was only made public on July 24).
On July 17, Adam Dekkushev was detained in Georgia and extradited to Russia; he had been put on the wanted list in 1999 as a member of Gochiyayev's group. In the very first days after he was placed in Lefortovo, it was announced that he was "already giving testimony." The only substantive report to appear since then was a press release from Dekkushev's first lawyer, Evgenia Nechaeva. The lawyer reported that the detainee regretted his actions, but the overwhelming part of the press release was devoted to exposing the destructive role of Boris Berezovsky and other oligarchs for Russia. Dekkushev's lawyer was replaced.
A week later, on July 24, there was a new sensation: the publication of Gochiyayev's letter. A day before the teleconference pre-announced for July 25 — a joint open meeting of the London Group and the Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov Commission, at which Alexander Litvinenko and Felshtinsky promised to hand over important documents to Muscovites (referring to this letter and expert conclusions) — the letter was made public by Borzali Ismailov, a member of the Chechen Democratic Association, who held a press conference on the matter in Paris and passed the letter to the Moscow human rights agency "Prima."
On six notebook pages, the main suspect sets out his version of events: yes, he rented basements, but he did so at the request of an old acquaintance who later turned out to be an FSB officer, and he did not know that explosives would be placed there. He emphasizes in a separate line: "I never had anything to do with the FSB or other similar structures."
Achimez Gochiyayev in different years
In Moscow in June 1999, Gochiyayev reports, "a man came to my company whom I knew very well, since my school days." He suggested going into the food business together. First, he asked Gochiyayev to buy mineral water and paid for it on time. Then he asked to rent "premises in the south-east of Moscow, where he allegedly had sales points. When in two of..."
Analysis of Events and Figures
The option of such an action seems less likely as it devalued a huge part of their labor and risk.
For Gochiyayev, premature explosions were especially dangerous: the explosives had not yet been completely removed from the warehouse on Krasnodarskaya, which was rented in his real name.
However, the claim that 'having learned about the explosions, we fled to Chechnya' does not appear to be true. The explosion of the house in Volgodonsk on September 16 was investigated quite accurately by local detectives. Furthermore, the suspects themselves admitted some involvement in this event in a letter, which contradicts the idea of a panic flight to Chechnya.
The Perovsky Trail?
The accused mentioned participation in organizing the explosions of a 'well-known intelligence agent' named Max Lazovsky.
- Yuri Felshtinsky stated that after receiving written testimony from Krymshamkhalov and Batchayev, he sent them a photograph of Max Lazovsky for identification. This photograph is featured in the documentary book by Felshtinsky and Litvinenko, 'FSB Blows Up Russia'.
- The accused responded that they could not confirm it, stating that other photographs were needed. Unfortunately, no other photographs were found.
Regardless of how the accused learned Lazovsky's surname (even if only from the book), two questions must be addressed:
1. How likely is the participation of Lazovsky's people in the events under consideration?
2. How can Lazovsky be connected to the special services?
Profile of Maxim Yuryevich Lazovsky's Group
Maxim Yuryevich Lazovsky headed a group that, based on court decisions, can safely be called a gang.
- Legal Cover: The group operated under the guise of the oil trading firm 'Lanako'.
- Scale of Activities: The scope of their trading activities was highlighted by a dispute between 'Lanako' and the firm 'Viktor' in early 1994 concerning the sale of an airplane.
- Other Services: The firm also provided 'security' services, which were essentially services for extortion and intimidation of debtors. For instance, while providing this service to the firm 'Rosmyasomoltorg', three guards from a debtor bank were killed. ('Rosmyasomoltorg' later gained notoriety when Mikhail Babich, the recent Prime Minister of Kadyrov's Chechnya, served as deputy head of this firm).
- Criminal Record: The last trial involving Lazovsky's people concluded in the summer of 2002. The number of people killed during 'Lanako's' activities, both their own and others, mentioned at that trial exceeded two dozen.
Group Identification:
* The group was based in house 2 on Perevedenovsky Lane, near the Baumanskaya metro station.
* Since the name 'Izmailovskaya criminal group' refers to a different group, Lazovsky's men are referred to as the Perovskaya group—named after the leader's place of residence.
* In criminological literature, they are known as the Lazanskaya group—after the restaurant 'Lazania' on Pyatnitskaya; this building has belonged to Alfa-Bank since 1997.
In addition to commercial and legal activities, 'Lanako' employees were also known for another occupation: explosions on transport.
Gang Members (from left to right):
* Lazovsky (killed 2000)
* Polonsky (killed 1994)
* Shchelenkov (killed 1994)
* Nataev (killed 1994)
* Vorobyov (alive)
Locations Mentioned:
* Railway bridge near the 'Botanichesky Sad' metro station
Confirmed Explosions
Courts confirmed two explosions involving Lazovsky's men:
| Date | Event | Outcome/Details |
|---|---|---|
| 11/18/1994 | Explosion of a bridge over the Yauza | The miner died in the explosion. |
| 12/27/1994 | Explosion of bus No. 33 | The driver survived; no one else was on the bus. Retired colonel Vladimir Vorobyov served three years for this explosion. |
According to 'Lanako' driver Akimov, Vorobyov blew up the bus at the request of 'a certain Chechen'.
The only Chechen whose name appears in the press and the court verdict alongside Lazovsky's people is the co-founder of the 'Lanako' firm, Atlan Nataev, who in the summer of 1994 was brutally...
Testimony and Intelligence
- Judge Olga Kudeshkina noted in the verdict that Abrosimov's testimony indicated he knew Polonsky as an FSB officer who acted as a guarantor in commercial transactions, and that he had seen his service ID and weapon.
- The FSB was not mentioned again in the verdict, but the term was frequently heard during the trial.
- Witness T., a close friend of the late Max Lazovsky, testified that Lazovsky was an FSB officer who acted under the service's instructions.
- T. explained the motive for Atlan Nataev's murder: friends from Lubyanka gave Lazovsky a tape recording of a "wiretap" where Nataev promised to deal with not only Lazovsky but also his wife and child for something.
- Other testimonies suggested that FSB officers took Nataev to his execution.
- T. also stated that people from the FSB intimidated him to prevent his participation as a witness.
- T. mentioned the involvement of former foreign intelligence colonel Petr Suslov in the group's affairs, whom he met multiple times at Maxim's. (Suslov later collaborated with Khozh-Ahmed Nukhaev in the "Eurasia" movement).
- Journalist Georgy Rozhnov reported that before the bridge explosion, the bomber Shchelenkov consulted by phone with someone named "Volodya from the FSB."
PREDICTIONS
The Chechen Trail Leading to Lubyanka
- On September 11, 1999, the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" reported that Caucasians were planning to blow up three houses in Moscow.
- The report suggested this information reached the newspaper even before the first explosion occurred.
- Subsequent events included a second house explosion and the discovery of a third planned explosion site (in Kapotnya, near a warehouse, with no residential buildings nearby).
Context of Prior Bombings
- Anonymous terrorist bombings had occurred previously, primarily in the markets of the Caucasus.
- The first house explosion in the Caucasus occurred in the military town of Buinaksk.
- Major explosions resulting in many casualties were rare, occurring about once a year, usually followed by reports from special services about captured terrorists, after which the situation calmed down.
Newspaper Report on the Prediction
The newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" published the following:
"Unique details about the events preceding the explosion on Guryanov Street became known to 'MK' from sources in the Federal Security Service of Russia. It turns out that counterintelligence officers received information about a terrorist act being prepared in Moscow several days in advance.
According to information available to 'MK', on Monday morning a phone call was received at the editorial office of one of the German radio stations (broadcasting in Russian). A voice with a Caucasian accent reported that in a few days three residential buildings in residential areas would be blown up in Moscow. German journalists recorded this call on a tape recorder.
Having contacted the FSB of Russia via international telephone communication, the Germans played the tape for the counterintelligence officers. (...) As FSB operatives assured 'MK', the 'telephone' version will be checked in detail."
Counter-Testimony from Anatoly Datsenko
Anatoly Datsenko, an employee of "Deutsche Welle," disputed the newspaper's account:
- He claimed there was no call to the studio, nor was any tape recording made.
- He stated he was taking a report for "Deutsche Welle" from a freelance correspondent in the Caucasus named Alvi (last name unknown), who may have published something in "MK."
- This occurred in the first days of September, while Alvi was discussing fighting in Dagestan.
- An outside voice with an accent suddenly appeared on the receiver and said something like: "Hey, journalist, we'll arrange something like that for you in Moscow soon!" The connection was immediately cut.
- Datsenko confirmed he never keeps tape recordings.
- On September 9, after the terrorist attack, he visited the FSB reception room and relayed the same information.
- When asked if he sent a refutation to the newspaper, he stated he consulted with his management, and they decided not to.
Context of Dagestan Conflict
- During this period, battles were ongoing in Dagestan, where Russian tanks and aircraft had been expelling Shamil Basaev's detachment from the small republic throughout most of August.
- One of the first terrorist threats originated from Dagestan, specifically on September 3, immediately following the explosion in the gaming complex on Manezhnaya: "A sensational report was distributed by France Press. Alvi Zakriev, the correspondent of this agency in Grozny, received a call..."
Appeal
Investigative and judicial authorities have turned to arbitrariness in their actions. We, volunteers, are forced to take measures against the power of the rulers and their henchmen. Thus, in the Ostankino court, Judge Matveev arrested Russian citizen Natalya Viktorovna Zander in the courtroom, a mother of two minor children, who also supports two elderly parents, disabled of the II group. We demand the release of Natalya Viktorovna Zander by September 1, 1999. Otherwise, every 7 days, communications, buildings, etc., will be blown up. Volunteers of Russia.
The Prosecutor General's Office received this letter on August 21. "Novaya Gazeta," according to the author of the indictment, FSB Captain Innokenty Asochakov, received it on September 7; however, "Novaya Gazeta" told us that this letter arrived much later — after all the Moscow bombings.
Mylnikov himself claimed (during the investigation, at the trial, in conversations with his lawyer Evgeny Chernousov and with human rights activists) that at the end of August he also went to the MVD building on Zhitnaya. There, he spoke with an acquaintance, a police colonel, and a senior FSB officer invited by the colonel. Mylnikov demanded nothing from them, only told them about the warnings he had received.
Therefore, identifying the author of the threatening letters was not difficult, especially since Anatoly lived in Natalya Zander's apartment at that time. According to him, he was indeed detained and interrogated several times in the fall, but he denied authorship of the letters even at the trial. The main prosecution witness was 17-year-old Anzhelika, whom Anatoly had helped get a job at the same "Golden Pages" where he and Natalya Zander worked. In the summer of 1999, at the request of Anatoly (with whom she was in love), Anzhelika made computer printouts from a handwritten draft of the "Appeal." Anatoly asked her to destroy the manuscript and delete the file on the computer, but for some reason, the girl in love kept the sheet and in May 2000 handed it over to FSB investigators.
Moscow City Court Judge Marina Komarova (she is currently presiding over the closed trial in the case of the apartment bombings) in August 2002 sentenced Mylnikov to 6 years and 8 months of imprisonment under Article 205 of the Criminal Code. According to the judge, Mylnikov "committed terrorism" in the form of threats for mercenary purposes. The origin of these threats and their coincidence with real events did not interest the judge. Journalists from "Komsomolka" and "Novaya Gazeta" were summoned to court but did not appear, and the court refused to hear the police colonel from Zhitnaya who came at the request of the lawyer.
Again the Perovsky trail?
Here we must tell about the events that took place three years earlier.
Mikhail Proshin indeed became a "pogonya" (nickname/driver): he took the position of personnel manager. And in the summer of 1999, he was sentenced to 25 years of strict regime for the murder of two directors of his native factory.
Proshin shot the first director himself with a pistol. There were almost direct witnesses: a minute before the death of Director Mironov, his guard Izmailov and driver Ryazantsev saw Proshin with a pistol in his hand near the director's office. But they were afraid to tell about what they saw during the investigation.
Proshin ordered the murder of the next director from two mechanics of the factory garage — Alexander Zander and Vladimir Gorelkin. (In one publication, three appear: a factory mechanic, an unemployed person, and a driver of the Federal Tax Police Service. Later, the tax police are not mentioned anywhere). For this crime, Zander, Natalya's husband, received 15 years in the same trial. Gorelkin "cooperated with the investigation" and received eight; according to our information, he has already been released.
What kind of people could call Mylnikov, demand Natalya's release, and threaten bombings?
The search for the Zanders' connections proved unsuccessful. Nothing new could be learned from Natalya Zander: she spoke for two hours with one of the members of the Kovalev Commission, but the conversation was not about Zander and his circle, but about the personal qualities of Anatoly Mylnikov. Anatoly's daughter (Trepashkin also found her) claims that her father simply had the gift of foresight: once he even predicted the imminent death of one of his...
Denis Saitakov
Denis Saitakov appeared together with Achimez Gochiyayev, according to publications, in four hotels. It is unclear why: Gochiyayev, besides an apartment in Strogino where he is registered with his wife Khalimat (according to neighbors, this wife is fictitious), had a sister living in Moscow for many years - she lived alone in a dilapidated, sparsely populated house in a place hidden from view. His mistress Tatyana also lived in Moscow. The investigator told Mikhail Trepashkin that Gochiyayev lived on Shosseynaya Street - this is the very center of the events under consideration. Why then did the two comrades have to demonstrate themselves in hotels? The very participation of Denis in the events is also very strange: why would several Karachays, who could discuss all matters in their exotic language, involve a Russian-speaker? So, Denis arrived from Naberezhnye Chelny, but grew up in the Uzbek town of Karshi.
What is before us: an Uzbek trail, in the words of Alexander Litvinenko (this is the name of one of the chapters of his book)? Litvinenko means something else - the origin of his former boss, FSB General Evgeny Khokholkov, about whom he and other authors have written more than once as an outstanding saboteur. Before the collapse of the USSR, Khokholkov served in Tashkent.
"Uzbek trails" figure, strangely enough, in the official version as well. In recent months, it has been voiced several times by General Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, head of the operational-investigative department of the FSB. Here he speaks about the composition of the explosives which, according to his information, the houses were blown up with: for the first time, terrorists used such a composition back in Soviet times in Tashkent. The general also says that the explosives were prepared in Chechnya by "militants of Uzbek nationality".
And something about Ryazan
To the Ryazan direction, we can add only two considerations.
-
First: about the most obvious of the lies contained in the stories of the Chekists (for example, in the article by Rustam Arifdzhanov "And the city did not know that exercises were underway" in the newspaper "Versiya"). The Chekists continue to insist that they taped over only the front number of their car. Yuri Felshtinsky in his film shows footage from an NTV broadcast, where witness Kartofelnikov says: "I specifically looked at the back of the car - the same thing: taped over, '62'". We advise paying attention also to the different reflective capacity of car numbers in daylight and in the light of night lamps. If during the day the pasted paper may be invisible - it looks just as matte-white as the surface of the number, then with the onset of darkness it begins to differ sharply from the number: the latter looks shiny (scatters light non-isotropically), while the paper remains matte.
-
Second: about the method of manufacturing the explosive device shown in the video footage taken in Ryazan on September 23, 1999.
Fig. 1
- A multi-core electrical wire in PVC insulation was used in the assembly. This follows from the shape of its bends: a single-core wire would have retained much more angular bends.
- A possible exception is the conductors connecting the batteries in the power supply unit (Fig. 2), but this does not affect further reasoning.
- The assembly of the power supply unit was carried out without the use of a soldering iron. This follows from the abundance of electrical tape with which the batteries are wrapped: the tape presses the ends of the wires wound without soldering to the battery terminals.
- Making a battery assembly in this way takes about 10 minutes, whereas with a soldering iron it takes a few seconds.
- But if reliable operation was not required from the power supply unit, but it was only required to create the appearance of functionality, the manufacturer would not strengthen the contact with electrical tape: without it, the assembly would look even more convincing and would remain functional, although less reliable.
Decided Not to Look for This Address
- In this decision, she was supported by the author of the article 'We know who...', Major Izmailov.
- In the newspaper, after two of his articles presenting Kapanadze's version, there was not another word about the warrant officer.
Cases and Deaths
- Stanislav Lyubichev, a traffic police inspector, was sentenced in 2003 in Kislovodsk to 4 years for aiding terrorists:
- In August 1999, he allowed a truck with explosives into Kislovodsk, despite the visible malfunction of the vehicle and the driver's lack of a license.
- Two witnesses—the manager of a food warehouse in Kislovodsk, Yusuf Krymshamkhalov's uncle, and the guard of that warehouse—were unable to appear in court: over the past four years, they had managed to die.
- Most of the accused also did not live to see our day:
- Denis Saitakov
- Timur and Zaur Batchayev
- Khakim Abayev
- Ravil Akhmyarov
- Khattab (with whom, apparently, Achimez Gochiyayev hid for a long time—as a valuable witness or in some other capacity) was killed in 2002.
- Max Lazovsky died in 2000.
- Admiral German Ugryumov, whose involvement in the events was written about by Yusuf Krymshamkhalov and Batchayev, died in 2001.
- A janitor from Kashirskoye Highway was killed shortly after she expressed suspicion about the involvement of one of the surviving residents in the events.
- Radio Liberty employee Alexander Batchan died a few days after he began working on the topic of the Ryazan exercises.
- During the year of the Kovalyov Commission's existence, two of its 20 members passed away:
- Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov
- Yuri Shchekochikhin
- On October 22, Mikhail Trepashkin was arrested on another charge of weapons possession.
Acknowledgements
- November 11, 2003.
- The authors thank Valentin Gefter, Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov, Lev Semyonovich Levinson, and Yu.G. Felshtinsky for their cooperation.
- Part of the work was carried out with the financial support of the Civil Liberties Foundation.
Permanent address of the article: www.somnenie.narod.ru/bl/obzor2.html