Russia: Chronicle of terror

The readers of the "Caucasian Knot" are offered below our updatable Chronicle of the terror acts committed in the territory of the Russian Federation starting from 1999 up to present time. Most of them are directly related to the ongoing for the sixth year already the undeclared war in Chechnya and gradual spread of warfare to other regions and republics of Northern Caucasus. This causes some degree of subjectivity in defining what should be treated as a terror act. The federal government would not recognize the opposing separatists as combatants and a priori announces all the militants' warfare and sabotage operations as the acts of "international terrorism". However, there is still some difference between a guerilla war and terror acts; therefore the below Chronicle does not include the most resonant separatists' actions, such as the invasion of Basaev's and Khattab's armed regiments in Dagestan in August 1999, the armed raid of separatists in Ingushetia on June 22, 2004, etc.

When specifying the number of casualties and victims of terror acts, the Chronicle, as a rule, makes use of official data. It should be noted that while initially the authorities were not inclined to diminish the count of terror act casualties and victims, since 2002 the official data on the number of losses and injured persons in terror acts might have been understated. Besides, while in 1999-2000 the pro-government media always hinted, when talking about man-made (technogenic) catastrophes, at the possibility of terror acts and referred to the so-called "Chechen trace", later, in 2002-2004 Russian officials and state-owned media, on the contrary, were inclined to treat terror acts as criminal showdowns or domestic catastrophes.

The Chronicle is based on the list of terror acts published in the newsletter of the "Memorial" (No. 28).

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January 24, 2011

At 4:32 p.m. Moscow time a powerful bomb went off in Moscow, in the international arrival hall of the general area of the "Domodedovo" Airport; it was triggered by a suicide bomber. According to the official figures of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE), the terror act killed 37 persons and injured 180 more.

March 29, 2010

Two explosions occurred in Moscow metro. The first one was triggered at the Lubyanka station at 7:56 a.m. Moscow time. The second explosion took place at 8:40 a.m. at the Park Kultury-Radial station. According to the FSB (Russian Federal Security Bureau), the terror acts at Lubyanka and Park Kultury in Moscow metro were committed by suicide bombers. As a result of the two explosions, 35 persons were killed and 73 more injured.

November 27, 2009

At 9:34 p.m. Moscow time on the railway section Aleshinka-Uglovka on the border of the Novgorod and Tver Regions four cars of the express train No. 166 Moscow-St Petersburg got off the rails. The catastrophe of the "Neva-Express" train was caused by explosion of a self-made bomb, which had power equivalent to 7 kilograms of TNT (trotyl). The total death toll made 27 persons, including 2 out of 96 persons wounded and hospitalized, who died later.

An activist of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (known as "DPNI") published in his blog a statement on behalf of the nationalistic grouping "Combat 18" taking responsibility for the explosion.

November 6, 2008

At about 2 p.m. in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, near the central marketplace, in the intersection of Vatutin and Kuibyshev Streets, a fixed-route taxi was blown up. The explosive device was triggered by a female suicide bomber.

The terror act killed 12 persons and wounded about 30.

October 31, 2007

In central Togliatti, at 8:12 a.m. local time in the intersection of Marx and Gagarin Streets, near the bus stop "Cosmos", an explosion was triggered inside a MAZ-103 bus and killed 8 and injured 56 persons. The power of the bomb could make up to two kilograms of TNT (trotyl) equivalent. As suggested by investigators, Dokku Umarov, leader of Chechen separatists could be the organizer of the terror act.

August 13, 2007

An explosion happened in the Novgorod Region en route of the passenger train Moscow-St Petersburg. The electric locomotive and 12 cars got derailed. The accident injured 60 passengers; 16 of them - heavily. Nobody was killed.

February 18, 2007

In the evening, in central St Petersburg, an explosion happened in a McDonald's. As a result, six persons were injured, four of them - young girls, a women aged 48 and a 38-year-old tourist from Germany.

June 12, 2005

The passenger train No. 382 Grozny-Moscow was blown up 153 km off Moscow. The locomotive and the first car got derailed, and five more cars overturned. The blast injured 42 passengers; nobody was killed.

January 26, 2005

An explosion happened at a bus stop in Voronezh; nobody was killed or hurt.

September 1-3, 2004

About 1300 persons were taken hostage in the school of Beslan (North Ossetia). According to official data, 331 persons were killed, including 172 children.

August 31, 2004

An explosion was triggered in Moscow near the Rizhskaya metro station. Ten persons perished and over 50 more were injured.

August 24, 2004

An explosion occurred at a bus stop near the Kashirskaya metro station (Moscow). 4 persons were injured. Initially, bandits' showdown was announced as the reason; later - a terror act.

As a result of terror acts, two aircrafts - a Tu-154 and a Tu-134 - crashed down. All the passengers and crew members perished - 90 persons in total. Initially, Russian officials explained these catastrophes by technological reasons, but later acknowledged that the crashes were caused by terror acts.

July 26, 2004

An explosion was triggered at a bus stop in Voronezh. 11 persons were injured.

July 19, 2004

An explosion was triggered at a bus stop in Voronezh. One person was killed and seven more injured.

May 9, 2004

An explosion was organized at the "Dynamo" Stadium in Grozny and killed 9 persons (including the former President of Chechnya Ahmad Kadyrov).

February 19, 2004

An explosion in the outskirts of Voronezh; two persons injured.

February 6, 2004

An explosion occurred in Moscow metro in the section between the Paveletskaya and Avtozavodskaya stations. According to official data, 40 persons were killed and than a hundred injured (according to the newspaper "Kommersant", the count of victims was 200).

December 5, 2003

An explosion occurred in the electric train Kislovodsk-Mineralnye Vody. 42 persons were killed and about 100 injured.

December 9, 2003

An explosion occurred at the Hotel "Natsional" in central Moscow. 6 persons were killed and 14 injured.

September 3, 2003

In the stretch Podkumok - Bely Ugol (Stavropol Territory), an explosion occurred, killing 6 persons and injuring 80 more.

August 1, 2003

A car stuffed with explosives drove into the territory of the military hospital in Mozdok (North Ossetia). 50 persons were killed and over 80 more were injured.

August 10, 2003

A female suicide bomber with the so-called "shahid belt" was detained near the restaurant "Imbir" (Ginger) in central Moscow." One person was lost at neutralization of the explosive device.

July 5, 2003

Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Moscow district of Tushino during the festival named "Krylya" (Wings). 16 persons died and about 40 more were wounded.

June 5, 2003

A female suicide bomber attacked a bus in Mozdok killing 19 persons.

May 14, 2003

A female suicide bomber blew up herself and 20 other persons in the village of Iliskhan-Yurt, Gudermes District of Chechnya, during a religious holiday.

May 12, 2003

A truck stuffed with explosives and driven by suicide bomber was blown up at the building housing the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Federal Security Bureau (FSB) in the district centre of Znamenskoye (Nadterechny District of Chechnya), where mainly residential buildings were destroyed, and 59 persons were killed. Over 300 persons were injured.

December 27, 2002

Two cars stuffed with explosives and driven by suicide bombers attacked the governmental buildings in the specially protected area in central Grozny. At least 72 persons were killed and 210 injured.

October 23-26, 2002

A capture of more than 1000 hostages was undertaken in Moscow at the "Dubrovka" Theatrical Centre during a performance of the musical "Nord-Ost". 130 hostages perished during the terror act and the counterterrorist operation of special agencies.

October 19, 2002

An explosion occurred at the McDonald's located in Pokryshkin Street in Moscow. One person perished and 8 more were injured. Initially, market redistribution between criminal gangs was announced as the cause of the explosion; later it was re-qualified into a terror act.

May 9, 2002

A land mine was blown up in the Dagestani town of Kaspiisk during a parade on the Victory Day. 42 persons were lost.

April 28, 2002

An explosion occurred in the marketplace of Vladikavkaz. 8 persons were killed and more than 40 injured.

November 10, 2001

An explosion was triggered at the marketplace of Vladikavkaz. 5 persons were killed and 44 wounded.

March 24, 2001

In the cities of Minvody and Yessentuki, Stavropol Territory, and in the village of Adyge-Khable, Karachay-Cherkessia, three terror acts were committed killing in total 28 persons and injuring 200 more.

February 6, 2001

An explosion occurred at the Belorusskaya metro station in Moscow injuring about 10 persons.

December 9, 2000

A mined car was blown up in the Chechen village of Alkhan-Yurt. 21 persons were killed and over 20 injured.

December 8, 2000

In Pyatigorsk, 25 persons were injured by explosion in the marketplace in Mira Street.

October 6, 2000

An explosion occurred on the platform of the railway station in Pyatigorsk, and two other explosions were committed in the city of Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Territory). Two persons were killed and 20 injured.

August 8, 2000

An explosion occurred in central Moscow in the underpass under Pushkin Square. 7 persons were killed in place and 6 more died later in hospital from wounds. 118 persons, including six children, were injured.

July 9, 2000

An explosion was triggered in the central marketplace of Vladikavkaz. 6 persons were killed and 18 injured.

July 5, 2000

An explosion occurred in Volgograd Chekalin Street. Luckily, nobody was hurt.

May 31, 2000

An explosion occurred in Volgograd in Zhukov Avenue: 1 person was killed and 15 injured.

September 22, 1999

In Ryazan, several persons were seen planting bags with RDX (hexogen) in an apartment house. The official version stated that they were doing exercises organized by the FSB.

September 16, 1999

An apartment block was blown up in Volgodonsk, Rostov Region, killing 18 persons and injuring a total of 310.

September 13, 1999

An explosion occurred in Moscow, in an apartment block in Kashirskaya Street: 124 persons, including 13 children, were killed.

September 9, 1999

An explosion occurred in Moscow, in an apartment block in Guryanov Street. 109 persons were killed and more than 200 more were injured.

September 4, 1999

In Buinaksk (Dagestan), a 5-storey residential house was blown up, inhabited by officers' families. 64 persons were killed, including 23 children; 146 persons were injured.

August 31, 1999

An explosion was triggered in the underground shopping mall in Manege Square in Moscow. One person died and several dozens were injured. The explosion, initially announced as a showdown of criminal groupings was later re-qualified into a terror act.

May 16, 1999

Three explosions occurred in the military township named Sputnik in the vicinity of Vladikavkaz. 4 persons were killed and 9 more were wounded.

April 26, 1999

An explosion occurred in an elevator of the Hotel "Intourist" in Moscow and injured 11 persons.

March 9, 1999

An explosion occurred in the central marketplace of Vladikavkaz. 67 persons were killed and more than 100 injured.