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Former ‘Nord-Ost’ hostages: “We pray for every baby”
Written by Татьяна КУЗНЕЦОВА   
Вторник, 23 Октябрь 2007
Five years ago, on October 23rd, 2002, terrorists took hostage more than 900 people who had come to the musical

VIDEO:

On October 26th, 2007, on Dubrovka in Moscow there will be memorial service dedicated to those slain in the terrorist-seized theatrical center. Joining the former hostages will be victims of terror attacks in Beslan, New York, and London.
http://www.aif.ru/articles/article_prmid_dta99052.html
Five years have passed since more than forty bandits seized a building in Moscow with over 900 people inside, and held them at gunpoint and under threat of being blown up for three days. Afterwards, alas, the nation shuddered again and again: there was the Moscow subway bombing, suicide bombers blew up two airliners, and, finally, there was bloody Beslan, where 330 died, half of them children. The events of these three days have been obliterated from the memory of the country, but not from the memory of those who spent those terrible hours in the auditorium, or stood outside in the rain, waiting for it to at last be possible to embrace their loved ones, but later searching for them hospitals and morgues.

Grief does not disappear

Their pain has still not been healed. They created their own memorial on the website www.nord-ost.org, and a Book of Memory dedicated to the 130 victims. There they write about their current feelings. “I still remember how I went into hysterics when I found out that Sasha had died,” wrote Sasha Letyago’s cousin. “There was not much difference between us, just 11 months. I still cannot sleep, and in late October I feel pain, a lot of pain. Sometimes I think that it did not really happen to our family, it did not happen to us, and all is well, everyone is alive, everyone is happy.”

“It is hard to write about Dennis in the past tense,” wrote Dennis Simonov’s mother and father. “Because we still feel as if he just left home on business, and that in the evening, as usual, he would definitely come back. There is a huge wound is in the heart, and the pain remains for the rest of life.”

“In April this year I think Sasha would have been 70! Yes, only 70 years old! He was young and spirit and body: handsome, smart, strong, cheerful, spontaneous and as inquisitive as a kid. He never ceased to learn. He eagerly lived and made plans. Even now, we do not part! He is always with us! His remarkable smile, his quiet and gentle voice, his kindness and his love!” So tenderly about Alexander Volkov writes his wife.

Do not deny them help!

They constantly communicate with each other, and even with those who experienced similar grief, those who were either a victim of a terrorist attacks themselves, or relatives of those who perished in such acts. They do not allow strangers in their ‘family’. They know that no one understands them. I ask, how people are doing, since so much time has passed, has anything nice happened in anyone's life? “We have no happy stories,” says Tatyana Karpova, shaking her head. She is the head of the ‘Nord-Ost’ public organization. Her son, Alexander Karpov, was a gifted translator and died (in the tragedy). “You know, we pray for every new baby,” admitted Dmitry Milovidov. “Doctors recommended that women who survived ‘Nord-Ost’ not become pregnant for five years. Just now babies are starting to be born, or are on the way, and we cross our fingers for each one. Well, we try to protect the children who survived the attack. My oldest daughter Nina died, while the militants released her sister during the first hours after the capture. That was enough for me to worry about her psyche for the rest of my life. She had a very hard time getting over the loss of Nina.”

Another child all the ‘Nor’easters’ worry about is the 5-year-old son of former hostage Lilia D. She was at her last stage of pregnancy when the tragedy occurred. The child was born with cerebral palsy, and only just now has the Moscow government agreed to pay for emergency treatment in Israel for the boy. The mother found herself at a dead end: going there would mean that her helpless parents, Chernobyl survivors, would be left alone, while not leaving right away carried the risk that the officials after the anniversary of the terror attack would forget their fit of kindness. The newspaper ‘Argumenty I Fakty’ exhorts Mr. Luzhkov to not deny her help if she could go after some delay.

Such is the gift from the government, the result of a 5-year struggle. All these years they have fought so that the bereaved families could receive financial compensation. Through the courts (!) they managed to get someone 250 rubles a month (that is how much two children who lost their mom and dad at ‘Nord-Ost’ receive), and to get someone else 5000 rubles. “When I named the above amounts at a session of the OSCE in Vienna,” says Tatyana Karpova. “Where we discussed the problems from the world’s major terrorist attacks, they asked me to repeat it again a few times, out of surprise. To them these pennies sounded so incredible.” They fought for a normal plaque at theatrical center, with the names of the victims. They went to Strasbourg, which is soon to consider their claim for moral damages. “We are normal Russians,” says Tatyana. “And up to these events we were patriots of our country. They forced us to air Russia’s dirty laundry at the European Court. And, in fact, it’s not for money that we’re fighting there. We want for them to listen to us at long last. We want an elementary apology for this whole nightmare, and for them to punish the guilty — in our opinion, the entire leadership of the operational headquarters. But the guys from Special Forces, to them all of us express our great gratitude. We await them at our memorial service. Thanks to them, many of the hostages survived.”

‘NORD-OST’ IN NUMBERS:

912 people were taken hostage at Dubrovka. Of this number, about 100 were children.

130 hostages were slain, including 10 children.

41 militants were killed during the assault.

8 1/2 years hard labor was received by Z. Talkhidov, for aiding and abetting terrorism and hostage taking.

7 years imprisonment was received by I. Alyamkin, inspector for one of the passport services of the metropolitan police department, for accepting a bribe in exchange for a temporary visa for a Chechen native who was a member of the group of terrorists that seized the theatrical center.

“There was no panic in the auditorium”

After ‘Nord-Ost’, for Sergey and Alexander (not their real names), officers at the Special Purpose Center of the FSB of Russia, there was Beslan and another major special operation in the North Caucasus. Of those October days in 2002, however, they remember almost minute by minute.

Alexander:
Once the unit went on alert, we practiced for two days in a theatrical center similar to the one that had been captured by the terrorists. When on the news there were reports about the first hostages escaping, we all let it pass, let it through our emotions. There was only one mood: destroy the militants to free the people. Harsh information was received: the terrorists were armed, they had booby-trapped everything, they acted boldly and violently, and in the auditorium there were a lot of women and children. We realized that if we made the slightest mistake, at any moment everything could be blown sky-high.

Each unit was assigned its own sector. My group entered from the projection room, while the militants, who were not in the auditorium but in other facilities and in the lobby, they saw us and rushed helter-skelter, like cockroaches. They fired back and a battle started. To make sure we tossed flash-bang grenades inside. The fire died down. When we finally reached the auditorium, the first hostages were already running out of there. I was in a gas mask. A girl ran up to me. I gave her some water to drink, and she kissed me. She did not realize that she was kissing glass and plastic.

They say everyone has their own war. So, I remember the calm, confident tone of the commander as he gave orders. He inspired confidence, and in that situation it was very important. Then, in the Kremlin after the awards ceremony (ed: Alexander was wounded in battle), the President told us: “Guys, terrorism is a war. In order to win, we must unite into a fist.” The war is still going on. There was Beslan, and there were other situations from which we came out with dignity, and most importantly, our people in the end have not become heartless and indifferent — otherwise we could not resist the enemy.

Sergey:
My team immediately entered the auditorium and the shooting started. In a few seconds most terrorists were neutralized, including the ‘shahidki’ (ed: female suicide bombers), who were wrapped in explosives. I remember one episode, when a commando saw that a grenade had dropped out of the hand of a dead ‘shahidka’, and he jumped a fairly large distance and caught it almost as it hit the floor. Then he saw that it still had the ring in it, so he tossed it… right under my feet.

But these were just some moments, because everyone worked to his upper limit. I remember that there was still shooting going on, and out from the seats popped an artist from the musical. He was wearing a pilot’s costume, and with crazed eyes he asked what he should do… But there was no panic among the hostages. In principle, we were able to go in, do our job, and get out, while the people were to be rescued by the doctors and the emergencies ministry personnel. But the guys had a fit, and it quickly spread on the radio, that we would carry the people out. We met the wife of one of our officers there, but I do not remember the other hostages. People often ask me if they ever found us later to thank us. There have been no such cases, in my experience. Although I think one needs such events in life, at least to understand that a stranger’s pain is also your pain. In general one needs to simply love life. That is all.

By Tatiana Kuznetsova, in 'Argumenty i Fakty'.

Views: 6026 | E-mail

  Comments (1)
1. Светлана — ДЕРЖИТЕСЬ! Мы с вами!
Written by Алексей, on 23-10-2007 18:11
Спасибо любимым «Аргументам» за сочувствие, за память, за слова добрые и участие. Сайт nord-ost.org делает женщина, потерявшая в Норд-Осте дочь и мужа, сама, едва оставшаяся живой. Перед ее мужеством стоит преклонить колено и сколнить голову. Хочется сказать только одно. Светлана — ДЕРЖИТЕСЬ! Мы с вами! Соболезную всем, потерявшим там родных и друзей…

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