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The 2002 Moscow theater siege, or Nord-Ost siege, was the takeover of the Dubrovka Theater by Chechen terrorists on October 23, 2002, which ended three days later when Russian special forces pumped an unknown chemical gas into the building, resulting in the deaths of all 40 attackers and at least 130 hostages.
Date: October 23 – October 26, 2002. Location: Dubrovka Theater (Palace of Culture) in Moscow, Russia. The Event: Around 40 armed Chechen militants led by Movsar Barayev stormed the theater during a performance of the musical Nord-Ost, taking roughly 912 people hostage. The Demand: The immediate withdrawal of Russian military forces from Chechnya and an end to the Second Chechen War.
The Assault: On the third day (October 26), Russian security services (FSB/Spetsnaz) pumped an aerosol chemical agent into the theater hall to knock out the terrorists before storming the building.
Date: October 23 – October 26, 2002. Location: Dubrovka Theater (Palace of Culture) in Moscow, Russia. The Event: Around 40 armed Chechen militants led by Movsar Barayev stormed the theater during a performance of the musical Nord-Ost, taking roughly 912 people hostage. The Demand: The immediate withdrawal of Russian military forces from Chechnya and an end to the Second Chechen War.
The Assault: On the third day (October 26), Russian security services (FSB/Spetsnaz) pumped an aerosol chemical agent into the theater hall to knock out the terrorists before storming the building.
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TVTranscript
00:00In Moscow in autumn 2002, terrorists took a thousand people hostage and threatened to kill them.
00:10The Russians' problem was how to get them out alive.
00:15A traditional type of assault under this circumstance was highly unlikely to be successful.
00:21The Russians needed another option, and fortunately they had one.
00:27When special forces stormed the building, they used a secret weapon never tried before.
00:35A mysterious knockout gas put over a thousand people to sleep.
00:41A hundred and seventy never woke up.
00:44The Russian authorities claimed the gas was not lethal, but they refused to say what it was.
00:54So why did so many people die?
00:57And what was the mystery gas?
01:00Horizon investigates the tragedy of the Moscow theater siege.
01:24On October the 23rd, 2002, on the outskirts of Moscow, a thousand people were enjoying a night out at the
01:32theater.
01:32On October the 23rd, 2002, on the outskirts of Moscow, a thousand people were enjoying a night out at the
01:32theater.
01:35Nord Ost was a romantic musical set during the Second World War.
01:45In the stalls were Svetlana Gubarjova, her 13-year-old daughter Alexandra, and her American fiancée Sandy.
01:57The family were there to celebrate.
02:00They had just been given permission to emigrate to America.
02:05Everything was working out very well, and we were in high spirits.
02:10We set off for a stroll around town, then lunch, and when we got back to the metro station, we
02:15bought the theater tickets.
02:16We wanted to carry on the celebrations.
02:19Just after the interval, the plot took an unexpected twist.
02:24It was caught on the theater's video.
02:29A shot rang out.
02:32Masked figures spread through the theater.
02:39My first thought was how well the director had worked such a clever stunt into the play.
02:44I couldn't believe it was true for a long time.
02:50But it wasn't part of the play.
02:55Forty heavily armed men and women had taken over the theater.
03:04The women had explosives strapped to their bodies.
03:10They had also brought two massive bombs, which they forced their hostages to help them place among the seats.
03:24The bomb was very heavy, very heavy indeed.
03:27And when we put it in the middle of the balcony, right by the parapet,
03:32two men and a woman began arming it, very slowly and very carefully.
03:41The terrorists were from Chechnya, a Russian province fighting for independence.
03:50The group's leader, Mavsar Barayev, had a terrifying announcement.
04:03Unless Russia withdrew its troops from Chechnya, they would start to kill the hostages.
04:11They themselves were not afraid to die.
04:18They threatened to shoot anyone who got up from their seat.
04:21And if government didn't give in to their demands,
04:24then they promised to blow up the whole building.
04:31One of those now under Barayev's control
04:34was child actress Kristina Kirbatova.
04:39Her parents were on their way to collect her
04:41when they heard the news.
05:07It was the start of a week which would shock Russia profoundly.
05:14In the days that followed,
05:15the families of a thousand hostages watched in horror.
05:19And the rest of the world was transfixed
05:21as crisis turned to tragedy.
05:31Outside, the Russian army quickly surrounded the theater and a standoff began.
05:37President Putin and his security advisers
05:40regarded this as an extremely desperate situation,
05:45the worst hostage situation they had ever faced
05:48and indeed the worst that has been faced by any democratic country.
05:58The conflict in Chechnya had been notoriously brutal.
06:03There was barbarity on both sides.
06:10Now, the Chechens had brought the fight to the heart of Russia,
06:16just miles from the Kremlin itself.
06:20Compromise seemed highly unlikely.
06:27So the Russians had to work out how to free the hostages
06:31without the Chechens blowing up the theater.
06:44The scale of the challenge faced by Russian military planners
06:47is well known to Robin Horsfall.
06:53He was in the SAS team,
06:55which stormed the Iranian embassy in London in 1980.
07:00The traditional approach is to mount an assault
07:03through multiple entry points simultaneously,
07:06using speed, aggression and surprise.
07:13The problem with this is they couldn't get the surprise factor into it.
07:20The Russian troops would have to fight their way
07:22along 100 feet of corridors before they could reach the hall.
07:31They would also have to attack up a well-defended staircase.
07:36So you're not going to get a quick and successful entry.
07:44The whole operation would take precious minutes
07:46and give the Chechens ample time to set off their explosives.
07:52The largest explosive device was based in the center of the auditorium,
07:56right in the center of all the hostages.
07:59If this explosive device had gone off,
08:02the whole of the ceiling would have come down onto the hostages inside
08:05and could have caused in excess of 80% casualties
08:08and it would have become a complete and catastrophic disaster.
08:14A traditional assault was highly unlikely to succeed.
08:20The Russians would have to come up with something new.
08:28Inside the theater, it soon became clear
08:31how ruthless the Chechens could be.
08:34At 3.30 a.m., six hours into the siege,
08:38a young woman wandered into the hall from the street.
08:43She started shouting at the terrorists.
08:51They pushed her through the side doors.
08:57And there were two short bursts of gunfire.
09:03And then there was dead silence.
09:06At that moment, we realized this was no joke.
09:11The Chechens had proved they were ready to kill.
09:16The Russian position was desperate.
09:19So they decided to do something never tried before.
09:24They would use a secret weapon.
09:27Gas.
09:42For half a century, hostage rescue teams around the world
09:46have searched for a gas that would knock people out
09:49without killing.
09:51It could save thousands of lives.
09:55If you look at the frequency at which hostages are taken
10:00on a worldwide basis,
10:03you can understand that the goal is immeasurable.
10:07It's a priceless commodity
10:08if you could actually have something that would do this.
10:12Over the years, many drugs have been investigated.
10:15But nobody had found one that worked.
10:18The problem was how to put the terrorists to sleep
10:22without killing any hostages.
10:27For the West, the perfect knockout gas remained elusive.
10:33But it seems the Russians thought they had found the answer.
10:40By the small hours of Saturday morning,
10:43three days into the siege,
10:46they were ready to put it to the test.
10:55At 5.30am, while most of the hostages slept,
11:00the operation began.
11:22The last thing I remember before I passed out
11:25was two Chechens on the stage shouting something up to the balcony.
11:30Then they ran out of the hall.
11:34The men ran to the outer corridors,
11:37where they broke windows
11:38and started to fire wildly out at the Russians.
11:46But the Chechens women,
11:47who could blow up the theater at any moment,
11:50were still in the hall with the hostages.
11:56So the Russians did not attack.
11:59They waited for the gas to work.
12:09There was sort of a dulling of the senses,
12:12weakness, indifference.
12:15I couldn't smell anything,
12:17and my hearing was very faint.
12:19Everything was sort of cut off.
12:21I really wanted to go to sleep.
12:2820 minutes passed.
12:31Still, they waited.
12:41Then, a hostage walked out,
12:44apparently unaffected.
12:48It was proof the gas had not yet knocked everybody out.
12:58So the Russians kept waiting.
13:11Finally, at 6.25,
13:14a whole hour after the gas was first pumped in,
13:18the special forces attacked.
13:30When they got to the auditorium,
13:32they shot the unconscious Chechen women,
13:35point blank.
13:38They couldn't risk them waking
13:39and detonating the bombs.
13:42I could hear shooting,
13:44and there was shouting in Chechen and Russian.
13:49Then, in a storeroom upstairs,
13:51they caught up with the Chechen leader,
13:54Mavsar Barayev.
14:01Not a single soldier had been injured.
14:05No hostages had been caught in the crossfire.
14:11In a building nearby,
14:12anxious relatives were told the good news.
14:18They came and told us it had been successful,
14:20and all the children were alive.
14:23They definitely told us that.
14:26We were so happy,
14:28kissing and hugging each other,
14:29jumping and shouting for joy.
14:35It looked as if the operation
14:37and its use of the mysterious gas
14:39had been a stunning success.
14:45Later that morning,
14:47hundreds of relatives thronged the hospitals,
14:49anxious to find their loved ones.
14:53Among them were Vladimir and Natasha Kirbatov.
14:57They had been told a girl
14:59matching their daughter's description
15:00was at hospital number 13.
15:04When we described her again,
15:07what she was wearing and so on,
15:09they calmly said,
15:10yes, we have a girl like that here,
15:13but she is in the morgue.
15:23She was underneath a blanket,
15:25and we could only see her trainers.
15:29We identified her,
15:31signed the form,
15:33and that was it.
15:40Svetlana Gubadyova woke up in hospital
15:43not knowing where her family was.
15:52I was sitting on my bed
15:54and heard them listing names on the radio.
15:58I heard my own name
16:00and started listening more carefully.
16:03Then I heard the phrase,
16:04sadly, there have been fatalities
16:06among the hostages.
16:11Yesterday,
16:12Aleksandra Gubadyova died in hospital.
16:20Not only had Svetlana lost her daughter,
16:23her American fiancée, Sandy,
16:25had also died.
16:35As the day wore on,
16:37the death toll rose relentlessly.
16:40Russia's stunning victory
16:42had turned to tragedy.
16:52For grief-stricken relatives,
16:54it was incomprehensible.
17:00129 hostages had died.
17:04Their loved ones demanded
17:06to know why.
17:19Despite the death toll,
17:21the authorities claimed the operation
17:23had been a great success.
17:26And they had a surprising explanation
17:29for the tragedy.
17:36They said it had nothing to do
17:39with the mysterious gas.
17:44Officials claimed the 129 hostages died
17:47because they already had
17:50life-threatening diseases.
17:58In most cases,
18:00there were serious illnesses
18:01like bronchial asthma
18:03or heart disease.
18:05In a number of cases,
18:07there were heart attacks
18:08caused by circulatory disease.
18:10Combined with exhaustion
18:12and stress over three days,
18:14this in itself
18:15could have very serious consequences.
18:22But nobody believed it.
18:28Least of all those
18:29like Vladimir and Natasha
18:31who had lost
18:32lively young children.
18:38The outrage of the victims' families
18:40was matched by news reports
18:43around the world.
18:47Some claimed nerve gas
18:48had been used.
18:50That would have broken
18:51international law.
18:54Four days after the theater
18:55was stormed,
18:56the authorities tried
18:58to put a stop
18:58to the speculation.
19:00To neutralize the terrorists,
19:04we used a substance
19:04based on derivatives
19:06of fentanyl.
19:09Such substances
19:10are medical drugs
19:12which can produce
19:13a very quick
19:14anesthetic effect.
19:16They are widely used
19:18in medicine
19:18and on their own
19:20are not lethal.
19:27Fentanyl.
19:28Far from being
19:29a nerve gas
19:30or even a weapon,
19:32it's a common
19:32painkiller.
19:33A man-made opioid
19:35like morphine,
19:37only stronger.
19:45Anesthetists
19:46like Bernard Riley
19:47use fentanyl
19:48every day.
19:53A small dose
19:54of fentanyl
19:55gives pain relief.
19:57What I'm going
19:57to do now
19:58is give you
19:58this powerful
19:59painkiller
20:00that's going in.
20:01A larger dose
20:02will make you
20:03unconscious.
20:05You might feel
20:06as if you've had
20:07a couple of pints
20:07of cider by now
20:08as that stuff
20:09circulated around
20:10your body.
20:11You all right?
20:13But there is
20:14one drawback.
20:16Fentanyl
20:16can stop you
20:17breathing.
20:21because of the
20:22effects of the
20:22fentanyl
20:23you can see
20:24he's not
20:24breathing at all.
20:26So until he
20:27starts to breathe
20:28spontaneously
20:29on his own
20:30I just have to
20:32keep on squeezing
20:33the bag.
20:42Although fentanyl
20:43can stop you
20:44breathing
20:44there is an
20:45antidote
20:46called naloxone
20:47which reverses
20:48the effects.
20:50Because of this
20:51it might have
20:51seemed sensible
20:52for the Russians
20:53to try fentanyl.
20:56The idea
20:57that fentanyl
20:58might have been
20:58used
20:59was supported
21:00by events
21:00on the day
21:01of the assault.
21:06As these
21:07pictures show
21:08the special
21:09forces brought
21:10supplies of
21:11naloxone
21:12and it
21:13seemed to
21:14work.
21:16So why did
21:17so many people
21:18die?
21:24One possible
21:25answer may
21:26lie in the
21:27rescue operation
21:28itself.
21:31Once the troops
21:32had secured
21:33the theater
21:34doctors from
21:35the Moscow
21:35Rescue Service
21:36rushed to help
21:37them.
21:39But nobody
21:40had told them
21:41in advance
21:41about the gas.
21:48Nobody warned
21:49us that they
21:50had used
21:50special gas.
21:53The only thing
21:55we heard
21:55was on the
21:56government
21:56trade
21:56of China.
21:58We were just
21:59told that we
22:00should take
22:01our medical
22:01kits to give
22:02first aid
22:03to the
22:03victims.
22:09Because
22:09they hadn't
22:10been warned
22:11the rescue
22:12workers hadn't
22:13brought enough
22:13naloxone.
22:16Neither
22:16had the
22:17special forces.
22:22just 17
22:23doctors were
22:24confronted by
22:24a thousand
22:25unconscious
22:26casualties.
22:28They were
22:28forced to call
22:29in troops to
22:30help evacuate
22:30them.
22:32The soldiers,
22:33inexperienced in
22:34first aid,
22:35dragged people
22:36out and laid
22:37them on their
22:37backs, where
22:39they could
22:39easily choke.
22:45Within
22:45minutes, the
22:47medics were
22:47completely
22:48overwhelmed.
22:53People were
22:54just dumped
22:54in a heap.
22:55It was
22:55impossible to
22:56tell who'd
22:57had injections
22:57and who
22:58hadn't.
22:59Some may
22:59have had
23:00two, others
23:00none at
23:01all.
23:08So was
23:09the botched
23:10medical response
23:11the cause of
23:11the disaster.
23:14It appeared
23:14to explain
23:15everything and
23:17it seemed
23:17to let
23:17fentanyl
23:18off the
23:18hook.
23:20But there
23:21was just
23:21one problem.
23:25Scientists
23:26around the
23:26world were
23:27beginning to
23:27doubt if
23:28the Russians
23:28had used
23:29fentanyl at
23:30all.
23:40It was all a
23:41question of
23:42quantity.
23:43The volume
23:44of the
23:45hall was
23:4613,500
23:47cubic metres and
23:50there were
23:50over a
23:50thousand people
23:51inside.
23:54To knock
23:55everybody out
23:56would take a
23:57huge amount
23:58of fentanyl.
24:06In
24:06California,
24:08one scientist
24:09had worked
24:09out just how
24:10much.
24:12If we want to
24:13figure out how
24:13much fentanyl it
24:14would have taken
24:14in Moscow, we
24:15have to make some
24:16assumptions.
24:17First, we have to
24:17estimate the
24:18dosage needed per
24:19kilogram of body
24:20weight in the
24:21aerosol form.
24:25and we have to
24:25know how much
24:26an average person
24:27in the theater
24:28weighed.
24:32And we have to
24:33know what their
24:34respiratory rate was,
24:35how much air they
24:37were breathing in
24:37at a given time.
24:39And finally, we
24:40have to know the
24:40total volume of
24:41the airspace in the
24:42theater.
24:46If we put all
24:47that together, do
24:48the math, we
24:49come out with a
24:49number, we can
24:51estimate that it
24:52would take 19
24:53and a half kilograms
24:54of fentanyl, nearly
24:5550 pounds of
24:56fentanyl, way too
24:57much to be
24:58practical to get
24:59into the air
24:59volume of the
25:00theater in the
25:00small amount of
25:01time that was
25:01available.
25:02I don't think
25:03fentanyl could
25:03have been the
25:04agent used.
25:10Mark Wheelis'
25:11view is supported
25:12by evidence from
25:12the theater.
25:15Most of the
25:15hostages say they
25:16were knocked out
25:17within minutes of
25:18the gas first
25:19appearing.
25:21to pump in 50
25:23pounds of
25:23fentanyl would
25:25have taken much
25:25longer.
25:30This suggests the
25:31Russians used a
25:32drug far stronger
25:34than fentanyl.
25:36But what?
25:42Because fentanyl is
25:44man-made, it can
25:46easily be manipulated
25:47by scientists.
25:49They've developed
25:50dozens of so-called
25:51derivatives, or
25:52variations of the
25:53drug, some even
25:55stronger than the
25:56original.
25:57So perhaps the
25:58Russians had used
25:59one of these.
26:07studies.
26:09In Salt Lake City, that's
26:11the view of one
26:12scientist who ought
26:13to know.
26:18Ted Stanley is a
26:19renowned
26:20anesthesiologist.
26:24He has also done
26:25work to develop
26:26a knockout gas.
26:34The work was
26:35commissioned by the
26:36FBI.
26:41The U.S.
26:43government agencies
26:45came and asked us
26:47if we would study
26:49some of these
26:52drugs in animals
26:54as a precursor to
26:56possibly using
26:57these compounds
26:59to immobilize
27:00human beings.
27:04In the mid-1990s,
27:07Professor Stanley
27:08conducted a series
27:09of experiments
27:10using the most
27:11powerful derivatives
27:12of fentanyl.
27:15One was
27:16sufentanyl.
27:23Sufentanyl is
27:24basically the
27:25fentanyl molecule
27:26with an extra
27:27element, sulfur.
27:30This makes it
27:31ten times stronger.
27:34But Dr. Stanley
27:35argues that even
27:37this was probably
27:38not strong enough
27:39for what the
27:40Russians needed
27:41to do.
27:42There is another
27:43derivative which
27:44is even stronger.
27:47It's made by
27:48taking the basic
27:49fentanyl molecule
27:50and adding carbon
27:53to create
27:55carfentanil.
27:57Carfentanil is
27:58ten times stronger
27:59than sufentanil,
28:01a hundred times
28:02stronger than
28:02fentanyl,
28:03and ten thousand
28:04times stronger
28:05than morphine.
28:08The Russians
28:09would have needed
28:09just 650 grams
28:11of carfentanil
28:13to knock out
28:14everybody in the
28:15Moscow theater.
28:18That's just half
28:19the amount of
28:20sufentanil they
28:21would have needed
28:22and a thirtieth
28:24of the fentanyl.
28:27That's why
28:27Professor Stanley
28:28believes carfentanil
28:29is the most likely
28:30candidate for the
28:32mystery gas.
28:42But there's just one
28:43problem with carfentanil.
28:47It's not meant to be
28:48used on humans.
28:55Carfentanil is so
28:56strong it will knock
28:57out the world's most
28:58powerful animals.
29:02This bison is being
29:03tranquilized so the
29:04vets can treat it
29:05for parasites.
29:10It weighs almost a ton
29:12and will be completely
29:14sedated by just four and
29:15a half milligrams.
29:19If a human received the
29:21dosage that we prepared
29:23for the bison, that
29:25person would show all
29:26the classical signs of a
29:27narcotic or an opioid
29:28overdose.
29:29That is, there would be
29:30behavioral changes, the
29:31person would be dizzy,
29:32he or she may vomit,
29:34they would pass out, and
29:36as they got deeper and
29:37deeper into anesthesia,
29:38if you will, respiration
29:40would probably stop.
29:41They would stop
29:42breathing.
29:42And if at that point
29:43there wasn't medical
29:44intervention, the person
29:46probably would die from
29:46this drug.
29:55Used correctly,
29:57carfentanil is perfectly
29:58safe.
30:00But in the Moscow
30:02theater, anything this
30:03powerful would have been
30:05extremely risky.
30:12carfentanil is so potent
30:13that a safe dose for each
30:15person would need to be
30:16infinitesimal.
30:19Getting it right would be
30:21critical.
30:24The danger of using a very
30:26potent substance like
30:27carfentanil is because the
30:30dosage to achieve the effect
30:32you want is so small that a
30:34small mistake, a small
30:35margin of error becomes
30:37extremely dangerous.
30:43What would make it even
30:44more dangerous is that some
30:46people would need far less of
30:48the drug to knock them out
30:49than others.
30:52It depends on factors like
30:54age and weight.
30:56And the strong, fit Chechens
30:58were likely to be among the
31:00most resistant.
31:05You have to use a dose of
31:07anesthetic that is sufficient
31:08to, with confidence, knock out
31:11the young, healthy hostage
31:13takers.
31:15That's going to drive you to
31:16use a dose that is potentially
31:19quite dangerous to at least
31:20some of the people in this
31:22room.
31:23More dangerous still, some of
31:26the suicide bombers were in the
31:28middle of the hall, as far away
31:31as it was possible to be from
31:33the air conditioning vents.
31:36Again, the Russians would have
31:38had to increase the dose to
31:40compensate.
31:42If you're going to give a very
31:44potent substance like carfentanil
31:46as an aerosol spray, then the
31:49people who are closest to the
31:51point of entry of the spray are
31:53very likely to get an overdose.
31:55It's as simple as that.
31:59Could the Russians really have
32:00taken such a gamble with
32:01hostages' lives?
32:05Because they have consistently
32:06refused to say precisely what
32:08was in the gas, it seemed
32:11impossible to tell.
32:20But in Munich, there was a man
32:21who thought he could find out.
32:27Professor Thomas Zilke treated
32:29two survivors who were flown to
32:31Germany the day after the siege
32:33was broken.
32:36He took blood and urine samples
32:39to try to discover what the
32:41Russians had used.
32:44I think that is very, very
32:46important.
32:47We always want to know what was
32:48the poison in every patient.
32:51So we are very interested to find
32:52out what sort of opioid it was.
32:58Professor Zilke brought one of
32:59his samples to Britain.
33:04He came to a company called HFL,
33:06which specializes in detecting
33:08these kinds of drugs.
33:14Dr. Steve Pleasance carried out
33:16the tests using some of the most
33:18sensitive equipment available.
33:21We're talking in parts per
33:23trillion in terms of drugs in
33:27biological fluids.
33:34The machine detects drugs by
33:36separating out the different
33:37molecules in the sample and
33:39measuring their molecular weight.
33:45In this case, the plan was to
33:47compare any substance detected
33:49with control samples of
33:51fentanyl, sufentanyl, and
33:53carfentanyl.
33:56The scientists were confident
33:58that if any of these drugs was
34:00used in Moscow, they would find it.
34:07But after exhaustive testing, they
34:11found nothing.
34:16The top trace is from the control
34:20sample of human urine that we have
34:23purposely spiked with fentanyl,
34:26sufentanyl, and carfentanyl.
34:28The bottom trace, this is the sample
34:32from the patient.
34:34By comparing the two, we don't see
34:37any peaks at all.
34:38So therefore, we deduce that there
34:40are none of these fentanyl
34:42derivatives within the urine sample.
34:43Yes, they definitely were not there.
34:47It was an extremely surprising result.
34:51The Russians hadn't used fentanyl.
34:55They hadn't used sufentanyl.
34:59They hadn't even used the most likely
35:02derivative, carfentanyl.
35:05So what was the Moscow gas?
35:09It was back to square one.
35:17There were a few definite clues.
35:21First, the symptoms.
35:24Unconsciousness, vomiting, and pinpoint
35:27pupils are classic signs of opioid
35:30poisoning.
35:33And hostages recovered when they
35:36received naloxone, the opioid
35:38antidote.
35:43Then there were the words of the
35:44health minister.
35:45He admitted they had used an opioid,
35:48a derivative of fentanyl.
35:52And whatever the gas was, it must
35:56have been extremely potent, because
35:58they had to knock out an entire
36:00theatre.
36:03But tests showed they had not used
36:05the most likely fentanyl
36:07derivatives.
36:09There was only one possible
36:11explanation.
36:14It seems to be different from fentanyl,
36:17carfentanyl, and sufentanyl.
36:19But it has to be, it has to have the
36:21potency of carfentanyl at least,
36:23because otherwise it wouldn't work in
36:26these circumstances.
36:27So, the Russians obviously have designed a new
36:32fentanyl, which we cannot detect in the West.
36:39All that experts could say for certain was that
36:42to knock out so many people so quickly, Russia's secret gas had to be as strong as carfentanyl.
36:55But anything that potent should have been extremely deadly.
37:01129 hostages had died, but over 860 had survived.
37:07Had it been carfentanyl, it could have been far worse.
37:12So, had the Russians managed to create a drug just as strong as carfentanyl, but much less lethal?
37:21The fact that the Russians did it and got away with a lethality of less than 20% suggests to
37:30me that very likely there may have been a novel agent with a higher safety margin than known fentanyl's.
37:37The theory now must be that the Russians had developed a gas which could knock people out, but with much
37:45less chance of stopping them breathing.
37:48It hardly seemed possible.
37:51But a scientific breakthrough in Germany has just shown how they might have done it.
37:57In Göttingen, one man may finally have solved the riddle of how to deal with the side effects of fentanyl.
38:05Professor Diethelm Richter and his team were not trying to create the perfect knockout gas, but to make severe pain
38:14relief much safer.
38:19Fentanyl causes pain relief and ultimately unconsciousness by depressing certain parts of the brain.
38:29This includes the part which tells the body to breathe.
38:35The challenge was to find a way to block this potentially fatal side effect.
38:44We were looking for a drug to compensate for the depressive effect of fentanyl
38:50and hopefully not change the activity of the pain system.
38:56So, let the pain system be depressed, but just bring breathing activity back.
39:05Professor Richter began to investigate the effects of an experimental stimulant called BMU-8.
39:17He conducted tests on rats linked to a computer monitor.
39:27First, they dosed the rats with fentanyl, which caused their breathing response to slow.
39:44Eventually, the breathing stopped altogether.
39:50Then they added the BMU-8.
39:57The effects were striking.
40:02There is respiratory activity coming back.
40:07It's increasing the amplitude.
40:10And now the activity is getting stronger and stronger.
40:14It's getting back almost to normal levels.
40:17I would say that is a very robust breathing activity you see here.
40:23That's stable.
40:30This breakthrough could explain everything.
40:36Adding BMU-8 to fentanyl derivatives may create a powerful knockout gas which doesn't stop you breathing.
40:46Perhaps Professor Richter, in his search for safer pain relief, had accidentally stumbled on what the Russians had done in
40:54Moscow.
40:59You would have a mixture of drugs which can be used as a knockout weapon which might be safer than
41:09using fentanyl alone because you have treated the severe side effect of blockade of breathing.
41:22Nobody can be sure, but perhaps the Russians had beaten Professor Richter to his discovery.
41:31Maybe they were right when they claimed that gas was not inherently deadly.
41:37But if so, why did 129 people die?
41:49It may all go back to the moment the Russians pumped in their gas.
41:59At that point, they may really have thought it would not kill.
42:07But even though the gas itself may not have stopped the hostages breathing, there was something else that would.
42:18As soon as they fell unconscious, their heads would slump.
42:28Some of them would have lulled their head one way or another, or even backwards over the back of the
42:34chair.
42:35And all of those things would tend them to lose control of their airway because they're unconscious,
42:41but probably to fall in a position where their breathing would be obstructed.
42:48Any hostage whose airway stayed blocked for more than three minutes would be in a critical condition.
42:55And yet the Russian troops didn't move for a whole hour.
43:06You would be at risk of simply choking to death.
43:10The level of oxygen in your blood would drop.
43:12And that would cause brain damage eventually, and before that, probably cardiac arrest.
43:23Even once the Russians got into the hall, there were a thousand hostages needing attention in minutes.
43:30But the evacuation inevitably took another hour.
43:34The physical difficulty of getting from the aisle to the centre of a row, time.
43:43The physical positioning of the patient, difficult.
43:48Getting the patient out into the aisle and out into the open air, difficult.
43:56Many must have died in the hall itself, long before any help could possibly have reached them.
44:03No medical response, however good, could have saved them.
44:10Even if this had happened in the Albert Hall, with excellent medical backup,
44:17I still think that there would have been a large number of deaths.
44:26The Russians may well have found the holy grail of hostage rescue.
44:33A knockout gas, which doesn't stop you breathing.
44:38But it killed anyway.
44:51This is the tragedy of the Moscow siege.
44:54The military operation worked.
44:57The gas may have been safer than anything known in the West.
45:01But 129 people still died.
45:06And nothing could have saved them.
45:19And that's it from UKTV documentary for tonight.
45:22However, switch over to UKTV Gold for a bit of swashbuckling from Sharp.
45:26And we'll be back tomorrow from 9am.
45:29Until then, you have a great night.
45:30To the muerte.
45:45To the streets.
45:48Do you believe you're sick to find the pollution in repair different ladies?
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