The terrorist attack on Dubrovka Street in Moscow took place on October 23, 2002. Then a group of militants burst into the building of the former Palace of Culture of the GPZ and took the audience of the musical "Nord-Ost" hostage. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of 130 people.
Instructions
Step 1
On the evening of October 23, 2002, a group of militants burst into the Theater Center on Dubrovka Street in Moscow, taking the audience of the popular musical "Nord-Ost" hostage. The terrorists demanded from the Kremlin an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Chechen Republic and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. This year was generally extremely turbulent: the second Chechen war was in full swing, terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus took place one after another, claiming dozens of lives. The media coverage of the second Chechen war was much worse than the first because of the ideological control of journalistic materials. At that time, only the most large-scale Chechen events were brought to the attention of the Russians, which could not be hidden.
Step 2
According to official figures, an armed group of militants who broke into the Theater Center on Dubrovka during the performance took 912 people (spectators and theater employees) hostage. More than 700 people were in the auditorium, which the terrorists broke into. The bandits declared all the people who were in that ill-fated evening in the building hostages and began to mine the center. In the first minutes after the capture, several actors and employees managed to escape from the Theater Center through emergency exits and windows. The seizure of hostages took place at 21.15, and already at 22.00 it became known who exactly carried out the seizure: Chechen fighters headed by Movsar Barayev are working in the building. In addition, among the bandits were suicide bombers, hung from head to toe with explosives.
Step 3
Already at night (October 24) at 00 hours 15 minutes, the first attempt was made to establish contact with the militants. Aslambek Aslakhanov, a deputy of the State Duma from the Chechen Republic, went to the Theater Center on Dubrovka, and after 15 minutes shots were heard in the theater. Some of the hostages then managed to contact the media on their mobile phones, the essence of the conversation was as follows: “Please do not storm the building. These people said that for one killed or wounded they would shoot 10 hostages.” In the early morning of October 24, State Duma deputy Joseph Kobzon, English journalist of the Theater Mark Franchetti and two medical workers went to the building on Dubrovka. After a while, they took a woman with three children out of the building.
Step 4
At 19 o'clock on the same day on the Al-Jazeera TV channel began broadcasting the appeal of the terrorists led by Barayev, which was recorded a few days before the terrorist attack on Dubrovka. According to this video, the militants declared themselves suicide bombers and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Chechnya. Subsequently, several unsuccessful attempts were made to negotiate with the terrorists, which lasted from 7 pm to midnight. It is worth noting that the Kremlin was officially silent until this time. On October 25, at 1 am, the militants were allowed to enter the building of the famous children's doctor, Leonid Roshal. He brought the necessary medicines for the hostages, and also provided them with first aid on the spot.
Step 5
At 15:00 on the same day, President Putin held a meeting with the heads of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and from 20:00 to 21:00 Ruslan Aushev (the former head of Ingushetia), Yevgeny Primakov (head of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry), a deputy from the State Duma tried to establish contact with the bandits Aslambek Aslakhanov and singer Alla Pugacheva. Their attempts were in vain. At about 6 a.m. on October 26, Russian special forces began to storm the building on Dubrovka, during which an unknown nerve gas was used by the special services. According to an FSB spokesman, within half an hour after the start of the assault, the Theater Center was under the full control of the special services, and the militants led by Movsar Barayev were destroyed.
Step 6
As a result of the terrorist attack on Dubrovka, 130 people were killed. Of these, six were killed by terrorists, and 124 died as a result of the action of the soporific gas used by the special forces. October 28, 2002, is declared a day of mourning in Russia for the victims of this terrorist act. On December 31, President Putin signed a decree awarding the Orders of Courage to Leonid Roshal and Joseph Kobzon.
