Exactly 20 years ago on 23 October 2002 terrorists seized the Dubrovka Theatre Centre in Moscow. In the terrorist attack 130 civilians were killed and all the terrorists were destroyed by the special forces.

A group of approximately 40 terrorists took hostage an audience, performers and staff members of the Theatre Centre located in Dubrovka, which had previously been known as the Palace of Culture for the First State Industrial Plant.

At the time when the hostage situation occurred, the second act of the musical Nord-Ost was taking place in the building.

In total, 912 individuals were taken hostage, including 100 children under the age of 18.

The leader of the terrorist group, Movsar Barayev, has demanded that the Russian authorities cease the counter-terrorist operation (KTO) by federal troops in the Chechen Republic.

The militants planted explosives in the auditorium, and positioned female suicide bombers, wearing «shahid» belts, among the audience.

Russian politicians, parliamentarians, public figures, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and other organizations engaged in negotiations with the terrorists over a period of two days.

As a result, from October 23 to 25, approximately 60 of the hostages left the building or were able to escape without assistance. The remaining hostages remained in the room for this entire period without access to food or water.

On the morning of 26 October 2002, President Vladimir Putin authorized a special operation by the FSB's special forces to rescue the hostages. The raid, during which special forces used gas, lasted approximately 40 minutes.

During the assault, 130 hostages were lost, including five who were shot dead by the militants prior to the start of the operation. Of the remaining 782, more than 700 sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.

During the special operation, all of the militants within the building — 21 males (including Movzar Barayev) and 19 females — were eliminated. Explosive experts recovered 15 submachine guns, pistols, one grenade launcher, 25 suicide devices, and two explosive items each weighing 40 kilograms of explosives. The building of the Theatre Center was damaged at a cost of 60.7 million Russian rubles.

In Russia, October 28, 2002 was declared a day of mourning for the victims of Dubrovka.

The criminal investigation into the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater Centre was initiated by the Prosecutor's Office in Moscow on 23 October 2002, under Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code, together with Parts 3 and 4 of Article 205 of the same code, which refer to «attempted terrorist activities» and «the taking of hostages», respectively.

According to the prosecution's statement, the organizers of the terrorist incident were the leaders of the Chechen gang Shamil Basayev, Hassan Zakayev, and Gerikhan Dudayev. The case against those responsible for the assault on the center was dropped «due to the death of the accused.» In the period 2003 to 2017, six other individuals involved in the terrorist activity were sentenced.

www.vesti.ru

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