23 2002 October, the
One of the most terrible terrorist attacks of the Second Chechen War took place.
At 9:05 p.m., armed men seized the Moscow Theater Center on Dubrovka. The musical "Nord-Ost" was being performed there. There were 800 spectators in the auditorium. Theater staff, 916 in total, were also herded in. They were declared hostages.
[The group] captured a thousand people—that's how easy it was... The second act began with a pilot's song. After that song, we... saw a man in camouflage clothing climb onto the stage. To attract attention, he fired a machine gun (hostage Svetlana Gubareva, BBC)
The militants mined the hall. Some were allowed to call their families and announce the capture. By 10:00 PM, security forces and journalists had converged on the Dubrovka center. The former were dissatisfied with the latter's performance and proposed banning live broadcasts, replacing them with coordinated information from the security services.
Officially, the terrorist attack was organized by Shamil Basaev — a Chechen field commander, one of the leaders of the struggle for independence from the Russian Federation of the self-proclaimed Ichkeria.
The seizure of the theater was led by Movsar Baraev — a field commander whose death was reported by security forces two weeks before the terrorist attack, and “Abubakar,” Ruslan Elmurzaev — the head of Prima Bank's security department. The terrorists' demand: the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
The women began asking, "Why don't you seize the Duma?" Barayev responded that the Duma was well guarded, but they were willing to exchange ten hostages for each deputy if anyone expressed a desire (Svetlana Gubareva, Novaya Gazeta)
On the night of the 26th, the assault began. Before it began, sleeping gas was pumped into the building through the ventilation system. The terrorists were killed. There was no one to stand trial.
At least 130 hostages died. The causes of death included both improper first aid—unconscious people were left in positions that blocked their airways—and the failure to administer an antidote—the gas's composition was not disclosed even to doctors.
Questions remain unanswered: How did the terrorists reach central Moscow undetected? Who made the decision to storm the building? Why was no one punished for the deaths?
