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Chechen Extremist examines the events on 22 October 2002, a large gang of heavily armed terrorists seized a theatre in the heart of Moscow, holding more than 800 people hostage, as they demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, their homeland. Four days later, the siege ended in a tragedy that shocked the world as 130 of the hostages died when the Russian security forces pumped a powerful knockout gas into the theatre. All 42 of the terrorists were shot dead when the security forces stormed the building.
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00:04October the 23rd 2002 Moscow a gang of heavily armed and masked terrorists have
00:12seized a crowded theater they now hold more than 800 innocent people hostage
00:18threatening to kill them all unless their demands are met
00:24as they rig the theater with explosives the gang make it clear they are quite
00:28prepared to die for their cause the crisis would last three days before it
00:34ended in a bloody storm of chaos and confusion but who are the terrorists and
00:39above all what do they want
01:16October the 23rd 2002 Moscow 42 ruthless terrorists are holding hundreds of Russian civilians hostage after taking over a theater
01:28identifying themselves as Chechen freedom fighters they demand that Russia withdraw its troops from their homeland Chechnya within seven days
01:38otherwise they will start shooting the hostages one by one before blowing up the theater and killing everyone in it
01:45including themselves
01:47the roots of the crisis in Moscow stretch back to November 1991 when following the collapse of the Soviet Union
01:55Chechnya declared itself an independent republic
01:59Chechnya is situated in the remote northern Caucasus around a thousand miles south of Moscow Russia's capital
02:06completely landlocked completely landlocked the mountainous country's neighbors include Georgia
02:11Dagestan
02:12Ingushetia
02:13and Stavropol Krai
02:15conquered first by the Russians in the mid 19th century
02:19Chechnya was always one of the Soviet Union's most troublesome territories
02:23a fiercely independent and warlike people with their own language and customs
02:28the Chechens most of whom are Muslims bitterly resented their Russian overlords
02:36following the Russian Revolution in 1917 the Chechens enjoyed a brief period of autonomy
02:42but by 1922 they were firmly back in the Russian fold
02:48nearly 20 years later when Germany invaded Russia during World War 2
02:52a group of Chechen rebels seized the opportunity to defy their overlords in Moscow
02:57and formed a new government of their own
03:01they reason that the Russians would be too busy fending off the Germans elsewhere
03:05to bother with putting down an insurrection in such a far-flung corner of their empire
03:11in fact the rebel leaders even went as far as declaring war on the Soviet Union
03:16and giving a limited amount of military assistance to German troops operating in the northern Caucasus
03:23but later the Chechens would pay a terrible price for this audacious bid to free themselves from Russia
03:30Yusuf Stalin, the ruthless and implacable head of the Soviet Union
03:34was determined to take his revenge for what he regarded as the Chechens' blatant and treacherous collaboration with the Nazis
03:41and in the winter of 1944 he did just that
03:45uprooting the entire population of around half a million people
03:49and forcibly deporting them to Kazakhstan in Central Asia
03:52and the frozen wastes of Siberia in the far north
03:58150,000 people are believed to have perished during the long nightmare trek
04:04however 13 years later in 1957 Stalin's successor Nikita Khrushchev
04:09allowed the Chechens to return to their homeland
04:13but he was adamant they would remain subject to the rule of the men in the Kremlin
04:18Chechnya would now enter its longest period of peace for hundreds of years
04:22it would last until December 1994
04:24when the Russian president Boris Yeltsin sent in the troops at the start of what became known as the First
04:31Chechen War
04:33three years earlier the Chechens now led by Dzhokhar Dudayev
04:37a one-time senior officer in the Soviet air force
04:40had used the confusion caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union to declare independence
04:46since then Dudayev backed with a large militia
04:50had consolidated his hold on the country
04:52openly defying any attempts Yeltsin made to bring him to heel
04:57now the Russian leader has had enough
05:03on New Year's Eve 1994 he orders an attack on Grozny, the Chechen capital
05:11but Yeltsin and the rest of the Russian high command
05:14had completely underestimated the strength of the Chechen resistance
05:21despite their greater manpower, superior weapons and support from the air
05:25the Russians die in their hundreds as they're harried through the narrow streets by Chechens wielding anti-tank rockets and
05:32grenades
05:34as the losses among his hard-pressed troops mounted
05:37Yeltsin belatedly realized that he was never going to win against the determined Chechens
05:43in April 1996 Dudayev, the Chechen leader was killed in an airstrike
05:48but it made little difference to the outcome of the war
05:51the following month, thoroughly humiliated and facing growing criticism from many ordinary Russians
05:57Yeltsin grudgingly commits to a truce
06:02but in August this is broken
06:04when the rebels mount an attack on Grozny
06:06and drive out the remaining Russian troops
06:10Yeltsin, now realizing he has no alternative
06:12agrees to a proper cease-fire
06:14and starts pulling his forces out
06:18the cease-fire is signed by his security chief
06:21General Alexander Lebed
06:23and Aslan Maskadov, the Chechen rebel chief of staff
06:30in January 1997 Maskadov is elected president of Chechnya
06:35and four months later he and Yeltsin sign a formal peace treaty
06:40Maskadov, a former Soviet army officer
06:42now feels he stands a chance of running Chechnya properly
06:46even though the question of independence is still on the back burner
06:49but Maskadov would prove incapable of controlling his more radical former rebel comrades
06:55and Chechnya soon descended into total chaos as they went on the rampage
07:01refusing to accept either Maskadov's authority or distant rule from Moscow
07:06the rebels, now regarded as terrorist warlords
07:09raised money through kidnapping and organized crime
07:13in fact it was not long before Chechnya became known as the kidnap capital of the world
07:20writer Tom Duval recalled how the terrorists found holding innocent people to ransom
07:25highly profitable
07:26the Russians, in sort of contravention of international norms
07:31started paying out huge ransoms of up to two or three million dollars
07:35and of course the market in hostage prices went through the roof
07:40it led to the deaths of many hostages when people couldn't pay the ransoms
07:44and you suddenly had a horribly criminalized economy
07:48in which the Russians were providing the money and the Chechens were providing the violence
07:55in June 1998 Maskadov responded to the worsening situation by declaring a state of emergency
08:02but it made little difference
08:06early the following year a group of rebels said they intended taking control of Chechnya
08:11and called on Maskadov to resign
08:13he refused
08:16angry and frustrated
08:17the rebels now stepped up their ruthless campaign of terror against the state
08:23they were helped by international terror organizations such as Al-Qaeda
08:26who were happy to supply them with funding, weapons and expertise
08:31at the same time some of the Chechens made their way to Afghan terrorist training camps
08:36where they picked up a range of deadly skills including bomb making, sniping and roadside ambush techniques
08:45in the summer of 1999 the rebels headed by Shamil Basayev
08:50extend their war beyond Chechnya
08:52and attempted to invade the neighboring Russian Republic of Dagestan
08:57they went in to support a hardline Islamist faction
09:00who like the Chechens wanted to break away from Moscow rule
09:06together they now called upon Muslims everywhere to rise up in a holy war against Russia
09:13but Russian troops stationed along the border between Chechnya and Dagestan
09:17fought back hard
09:18and the invasion was thwarted in less than two weeks
09:23the following month a military housing unit in Dagestan is bombed
09:27as are a number of apartment buildings elsewhere in Russia including Moscow
09:32more than 300 people are killed
09:35although there was no direct proof that the Chechen terrorists were behind the attacks
09:39most Russians assumed they were and demand vengeance
09:45by now Russia has a new prime minister, Vladimir Putin
09:50a one time KGB officer in East Germany
09:53Putin is in no mood to compromise with the Chechens
09:56and he decides to send Russian troops back into the country
10:00he says it's necessary to quash terrorism
10:03and to prevent the unrest in Chechnya spreading elsewhere
10:07in October after a series of devastating air raids on territory held by the Chechen rebels
10:12the troops move in and the ground offensive begins
10:16it's the start of the second Chechen war
10:19and it will be a great deal bloodier than the first
10:24now terrified by the advance of the Russian troops and their relentless columns of tanks and artillery
10:30around 200,000 ordinary Chechen citizens flee to the safety of the neighboring Russian republics
10:37although they face overwhelming odds the Chechen rebels are determined not to give up
10:41and as the Russian troops move in they are prepared to fight to the last mile
10:48by early February 2000 it's all over
10:50the rebels fall back before the furious Russian onslaught
10:54and the city is virtually razed to the ground
10:58three months later Putin who has now succeeded Yeltsin as president
11:03strips Chechnya of all authority and declares that the country will be ruled directly from Moscow
11:10even though they realize they can't win militarily
11:13the Chechen rebels, many of them hiding out in the mountains and forests, vow to fight on
11:18but it will be through a terror campaign
11:22which includes plane hijacks, bombing military installations
11:25missile attacks on Russian helicopters and picking off Russian troops with sniper fire
11:31rather than going head to head with Putin's troops
11:34in a terrifying new development
11:37the Chechens emulate their Middle East counterparts by sending out suicide bombers
11:43but Putin refuses to be swayed
11:45he believes that if Chechnya is granted independence
11:48the terrorists will take over completely
11:50and spread their pernicious influence into neighboring Russian states
11:56Putin also wants to safeguard Russian economic interests in the region
12:00particularly the development of vast oil and gas reserves in the Caspian Sea
12:06as the terrorists realize that their tactics in Chechnya are not having much effect on the implacable men in the
12:12Kremlin
12:12Putin in particular, they decide to take their fight into the heart of Moscow
12:17the outcome will shock the world
12:23October 23rd, 2002, Moscow
12:2742 Chechen terrorists seize a theater during an evening performance
12:32and hold more than 800 people hostage
12:35the heavily armed gang, some of whom are wearing explosive belts
12:39now threaten to kill everyone including themselves
12:42unless Russia pulls out of Chechnya
12:45the terrorists are led by Movsar Balayev
12:48the nephew of one of Chechnya's most notorious warlords
12:51Abi Balayev
12:53killed the previous year in a shootout with Russian troops
12:57he insists that Russia cause an immediate halt to the use of air power and heavy artillery in Chechnya
13:03and that Putin states publicly that he is trying to stop the war
13:08Barayev appears just as ruthless and determined as his late uncle
13:11ordering his fellow terrorists to rig the interior of the building with explosives
13:16and place two large bombs among the hostages
13:20he states that unless the Russian authorities are prepared to negotiate
13:24the hostages will be shot one by one
13:27if this fails then the terrorists will blow up the entire theater
13:31killing everyone in it, including themselves
13:35as news of the crisis spreads, Russia's leader, President Vladimir Putin
13:40cancels an overseas trip to monitor the ongoing situation
13:44by the following day the theater is besieged by the media
13:48however, as Russia and the rest of the world watch the drama unfold
13:52one thing is certain, Putin will never agree to pull out of Chechnya
13:56the terrorists have to be dealt with and the hostages rescued
14:01whatever the cost
14:03Terrorism expert Professor Paul Wilkinson
14:06outlined the enormity of the task the Russian authorities now faced
14:10President Putin and his security advisors
14:13regarded this as an extremely desperate situation
14:17the worst hostage situation they had ever faced
14:20and indeed the worst that has been faced by any democratic country
14:27As troops moved in and surrounded the building
14:29a full scale military assault seems almost inevitable
14:34but as Robin Horsfall, one of the SAS team
14:37who had successfully broken the Iranian embassy siege in London in 1980 explained
14:41this presented an enormous challenge
14:45The traditional approach is to mount and assault through multiple entry points simultaneously
14:50using speed, aggression and surprise
14:52The problem with this is they couldn't get the surprise factor into it
14:57The Russian authorities quickly realized that a full scale assault would end in a bloodbath
15:03The largest explosive device was based in the center of the auditorium
15:07right in the center of all the hostages
15:10If this explosive device had gone off
15:13the whole of the ceiling would have come down onto the hostages inside
15:16and could have caused in excess of 80% casualties
15:19and it would have become complete and catastrophic disaster
15:23The terrorists had already demonstrated their ruthlessness
15:26when just six hours into the siege
15:28they shot dead a young woman who wandered into the theater from the street
15:32and started haranguing them
15:35With an attack out of the question
15:36the planners knew they had to come up with another option
15:39before the terrorists started killing the actual hostages
15:43So they decided to flush out the terrorists
15:45with a highly controversial and hitherto untried secret weapon
15:49a knockout gas
15:53The gas would be pumped into the theater
15:55and, in theory, render everyone unconscious
15:59This would enable the troops to seize and disarm the disabled terrorists
16:03and lead the hostages to safety
16:05once they'd recovered from the effects of the gas
16:08But as Dr. Mark Wheelis from the University of California pointed out
16:12this was not without risk
16:16Knocking somebody out is a substantial pharmacological effect
16:21and what we're trying, what we're asking this agent to do
16:25is to substantially affect somebody's central nervous system
16:30and yet not cause any lethality
16:32That's a tall order
16:34Nonetheless, as the siege entered its third day
16:36the Russians thought that using gas was a risk worth taking
16:42October 26th, Moscow, 3.30 a.m.
16:47As 200 Russian special forces move in
16:50the floodlights, which have illuminated the front of the theater
16:53since the beginning of the siege, are switched off
16:58Gas is then pumped through external vents into the air conditioning system
17:03However, as it seeps slowly into the auditorium
17:06the terrorists realize what's happening
17:10Several of them run to the front of the theater
17:12smash windows and start firing wildly at the troops outside
17:17But the Russians didn't respond
17:19They knew the gas would soon take effect
17:22But after 20 minutes, one of the hostages suddenly appeared
17:26To everyone's astonishment, she had not succumbed to the gas
17:30However, convinced it was only a matter of time
17:32the Russians decided to hold back
17:34until they felt confident that everyone inside the theater would be unconscious
17:39Finally, after another 45 minutes, they made their move
17:43Blowing the doors in and storming the theater in a hail of gunfire
17:55By now, virtually everyone in the auditorium was unconscious, including the women terrorists guarding the two bombs
18:02They were immediately shot dead
18:06But some of their companions had escaped the gas and fled into other areas of the theater
18:12A series of running gun battles now ensued as they are pursued and cut down by the Russian troops
18:19The terrorist leader, Mosvor Barayev, is found in a storeroom
18:23He too was killed on the spot
18:26Hundreds of unconscious hostages are then brought out and rushed to hospital
18:31With the terrorists dead and the hostages freed
18:33Everyone assumed that the worst was now over
18:37They could not have been more wrong
18:43As the day wore on, reports began to filter out that some of the hostages had also died in the
18:49assault
18:49At this stage, it was assumed they'd been caught in the crossfire between the troops and the terrorists
18:55That this was far from the case
18:58Within a short time, the shocking news gets out
19:01That 129 hostages appeared to have died from the effects of the gas pumped into the theater
19:08This was denied by the authorities
19:10Who, much to the anger of the grieving relatives
19:13Claimed the hostages died because they were already suffering from serious and potentially fatal illnesses
19:19However, it was suggested later by scientists elsewhere
19:22That the deaths occurred because the gas was just too powerful for some of the older and weaker members of
19:27the audience to withstand
19:29The perfect knockout gas is a dream
19:32Any agent used in a situation like this is going to kill some people and permanently damage others
19:39And adding to the growing speculation
19:41The Russian authorities have never revealed the type of gas they used
19:48Meanwhile, Putin appeared on television
19:51Apologizing for not having rescued more of the hostages
19:54At the same time, however, he pointed out hundreds had been brought out alive
19:58Proving it was impossible to bring Russia to its knees
20:03Furious at the terrorists for attacking Moscow itself
20:06He now promises to tighten the grip on Chechnya even more
20:11But despite the failure of the theater siege
20:14The Chechens refused to be cowed
20:16And immediately start planning other outrages
20:19Two months later, two trucks driven by Chechen suicide bombers
20:24Blow up outside the country's main government building in Grozny
20:29Eighty-three people are killed in the worst ever terrorist attack in Chechnya itself
20:33Other suicide attacks follow
20:36Prompting both a great many law-abiding Chechens and Russian citizens alike
20:40To question if peace would ever be possible while Russian troops remained in Chechnya
20:47On May the 9th, 2004, the country's Russian-backed president, Ahmad Kadyrov
20:52Was killed by a bomb while he was watching a parade in the Grozny football stadium
20:57Twelve other people die and 56 are badly injured
21:02He's succeeded by Alu Al-Khanov, another Moscow nominee
21:07But he has no more success than anyone else in bringing the terrorists to book
21:11And dozens of people continue to die
21:14Then four months after Al-Khanov takes over
21:16He's faced with an outrage which was even more shocking than the Moscow theater siege
21:24September the 1st, 2004, Beslan, North Ossetia, 9.30 am
21:31A large gang of Chechen terrorists burst into a school
21:35And take 1,200 children, teachers and parents hostage
21:39The town of Beslan is situated in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia
21:43Which borders Chechnya to the west
21:45The terrorist leader, Shamil Basayev, although not present at Beslan himself
21:51Makes the usual demands
21:53A complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya
21:56Followed by independence
21:58The terrorists mine the school with explosives
22:01And threaten to kill everyone if Russian troops attempt to storm the building
22:06And to make their point
22:07They immediately execute up to 20 men who look as if they might present a threat
22:14Meanwhile in a vain attempt to stave off any further violence
22:17The Russian authorities announce they will not resort to force
22:20Instead they hope to resolve the crisis through peaceful negotiation
22:25At the same time the United Nations Security Council demands the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages
22:32And US President George W. Bush offers the Russians any support they need
22:38But the negotiations with the terrorists get no way
22:42They refuse to allow the removal of the dead from the front of the school where they had been dumped
22:46They also refuse to accept any food, water or medical supplies for the desperate hostages
22:52However, in an unexpected gesture of goodwill
22:5515 of the youngest children and 11 of their mothers are released on the second day
23:01By now the rest of the hostages were suffering terribly from dehydration, exhaustion and lack of food
23:09That afternoon the terrorists fired grenades at the security forces surrounding the school
23:13But they failed to respond for now
23:17On the third day the terrorists appeared to relax a little
23:20And allowed four doctors in to collect the bodies of the murdered hostages
23:26However, as they arrived the number of explosions were heard from within the school
23:31And the roof of the gymnasium caught fire
23:34Dozens of children then tried to escape from the blazing building
23:37The terrorists opened fire shooting some of them in the back
23:49This was too much for the Russian authorities
23:52And as helicopters hovered overhead and tanks maneuvered into position
23:56They ordered in the troops
23:58There is now a bloodbath
24:01By the time it's over, 10 hours later, nearly 400 of the hostages are dead or die
24:07So too are 11 of the Russian assault team
24:10And all but one of the terrorists
24:14Although the Beslan school crisis was the worst Chechen terrorist outrage to date
24:19It was by no means the last
24:22And as they never know where the terrorists will strike next
24:26The Russians seemed powerless to stop them
24:30However, on September the 21st, a year after the Beslan siege
24:34There's a breakthrough
24:35When Russian special forces track down and kill Haslan Marschadov
24:40A one-time Chechen president
24:42Marschadov has long since been marked down as one of the country's most brutal terrorists
24:47With a 10 million dollar price on his head
24:50In July the following year, there's another breakthrough
24:53When Russia's most wanted man, Shamil Basayev
24:57The mastermind behind Beslan and countless other terrorist atrocities
25:01Is assassinated with a bomb planted by Russian agents
25:06But with every leading Chechen terrorist the Russians managed to kill
25:09There's always another to take his place
25:13So it seems that unless and until Russian forces are withdrawn
25:16And there is a diplomatic breakthrough, the battle will continue
25:22And with the men in the Kremlin remaining as inflexible and implacable as ever
25:26There appears as yet no end to the bloody conflict
25:30And there is no doubt
25:44And with that, once again, the war is not immediately
25:44There appears as though
25:44¿Port the man who was Mauro not only did that
25:46The man with the man who was ah-a-a-sop
25:47There appears as a woman who was ah-a-a-a-sop
26:00You
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