Lena Polyakova was killed during the storming of 'Nord-Ost'. The authorites tried to hide her body, and she was buried in secret. The Moscow city prosecutor seems to be more worried about the actions of the lawyer for the 'Nord-Ost' hostages than anything else.

The 'Nord-Ost' story continues. The first thing that we remember was the silence, or, alternatively, the unconvincing lie about the number of hostages who were killed during the storming of the theatrical center.

Later, it became clear that it was not just the terrorists and dextrous representatives of the police and special forces who were guilty of the tragedy, but many journalists. Last Friday the topic of the media's fault was personified in the resignation of Boris Jordan. As you may recall, NTV 'incorrectly' reported on the events at 'Nord-Ost'.

Now the prosecutor's office has decided to investigate Trunov, the lawyer for the former 'Nord-Ost' hostages, in spite of the laws protecting counsel. In other words, since the real terrorists are far away, they must 'wipe out' those who are closer.

With regards to all of this, I would like to tell our readers a very simple story. The story of a dead girl.

Unfortunately, the person who knows THE WHOLE STORY is dead. He, whom we shall call him 'D.B.' agreed to make public this story, but never succeeded. He was not able to tell me a lot, so I must tell of that which he did.

Thus, on the list of the dead is Alena Polyakova. We looked for this girl and her mother, Olga Polyakova, beginning on October 28th (2002), at D.B.'s request. They were the wife and daughter of a friend of his.

D.B. drove to all the hospitals and morgues specified in official reports. We, in turn, called them all. Mother and daughter Polyakova were not on any of the official lists.

Quickly understanding that the victims were transported to WHEREVER POSSIBLE, we changed our tactics. The editors here telephoned ALL the hospitals and morgues in Moscow. We were successful in one instance: in the intensive care ward of Hospital No. 68 we located Olga Polyakova. At this point Hospital No. 68 was NOT on any of the lists.

D.B. tried to use his connections (which he had a lot of) to try and transfer Olga Polyakova to Central Clinical Hospital. He was refused, and was told that it was FORBIDDEN to send 'Nord-Ost' hostages to Central.

Lena Polyakova still remained unaccounted for. Once again we called ALL the hospitals and morgues, and once again D.B. knocked about ALL the hospitals and morgues. Suddenly he phoned and said that there was still one place where Lena could be. In his words, a very high-ranking acquaintance told him that the bodies of those killed during the storming of the theater were at the certain military unit in Moscow. D.B. agreed to be taken there, but categorically refused to bring me along. He was granted permission to go alone, at night.

In the morning he phoned and told me that there was no need to look any further.

The military unit turned out to be one of the military hospitals used for high-ranking members of the command staff, located at Sokolniki. D.B. drove there at night. When he left, they told me, one could not bear to look at him. Alena was there, along with, at a minimum, nine bodies.

The girl had a gunshot wound. The pathologist assured him that the wound was in itself not fatal. On the other hand, does a 12-year-old child need much of a wound?

Problems later arose. Officially the girl did not exist — she was not on any of the hostage lists. «Some of the hostages,» the Moscow city prosecutor stated cynically. «Went home on their own.» Alena Polyakova was not in any morgue or hospital, officially. That is to say, the girl had ceased to be. Even her body vanished, officially.

D.B. would not give me details, he would not not say what favors he called in so that he could get custody of the girl's body. This, however, was only half the problem — NOW SHE COULD NOT BE BURIED!

For a burial one needs a death certificate. It was impossible to get one, because the certificate must have a cause of death. The girl had a gunshot would, so this means that the police and prosecutor's office had to be notified. Generally speaking, after 'Nord-Ost' no one wanted anything to do with this, not even for money. A death certificate was eventually purchased somewhere in Kazan.

They went to the Troekurovsky cemetary to bury the girl. As D. B. told me, it was an awful funeral — only nine people, and the coffin was too large for the little girl.

D.B.'s heart could not handle the awful pressure. Within a month he passed away.

By the way, those who were interested in this story COULD NOT FIND Alena Polyakova in the registry of the Troekurovsky cemetary or its crematorium.

This story is a ghastly one, and an everyday occurrence in Russia. It is so commonplace that the prosecutor's office is more interested in other matters, such as the lawyer of those who spent three days in the theater hall with Alena Polyakova, but, unlike her, survived.