24 November 2005, 21:23
'No onslaught was planned' – Beslan headquarters member
Five witnesses were interrogated at a hearing of the Beslan attack case in North Ossetia's Supreme Court earlier today. Among them was Victor Sobolev, commander of the 58th army and a member of the operations headquarters for the rescue of hostages.
Mr Sobolev said that upon his arrival in Beslan Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov had ordered him to ensure encirclement to prevent the gunmen's possible escape. A paratrooper company and a motorised one were moved to the school. The encirclement was denser than standard, according to him. "My task had not been changed until the onslaught. During the onslaught, I had orders to narrow the encirclement to prevent gunmen from penetration through it," said Mr Sobolev.
The lieutenant-general as a member of the operations headquarters told that the headquarters had not been formed at once. It was first headed by North Ossetia's President Alexander Dzasokhov because his status was the highest. "Combating terrorism is a task for the Federal Security Service, so Lieutenant-General Valerii Andreyev, Director of the Federal Security Service Department for North Ossetia, headed the headquarters on the second day," said the witness. Mr Sobolev did not attend each meeting of the headquarters because he was at his observation point all the time.
According to Victor Sobolev, the note which stated the demands of the terrorists read that they wanted presidents Dzasokhov of North Ossetia and Ziazikov of Ingushetia, and doctor Roshal. "As soon as Dzasokhov read the note he said, 'I'll go there.' The republic's Internal Affairs Minister Dzantiyev stopped him saying that they would kill him and that would be all the talks would boil down to. Roshal was ready to go to the school and he even went towards it, but when the gunmen saw him, they opened fire at once. They demanded: all or none. But where was Ziazikov? I don't know where Ziazikov was."
Victor Sobolev confirmed that eight armoured personnel carriers and three tanks of the 58th army had been transferred for the Federal Security Service to dispose of because that agency had commanded the rescue operation. Some of these machines were on the Shalkhi military training ground in Vladikavkaz where the Alfa and Vympel units were training. Therefore, the special units were 50 minutes late for the onslaught. "They began fighting as soon as they arrived, they even had no time to put on their bullet-proof vests," the lieutenant-general said.
According to Mr Sobolev, the headquarters did not plan the onslaught, otherwise the special units would not have been sent to the training ground. He said that it had been impossible to predict the explosion that had occurred.
When asked about tanks, Victor Sobolev confirmed that one tank had shot in the evening, at about 9:00 p.m. Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel drew the attention of the witness to the fact that many victims insisted in their evidence that the tank had shot in the afternoon, but Mr Sobolev called that "complete nonsense."
"I would like to explain that an onslaught ends when those who carry it out enter the building. By that time, the onslaught was over. You ask why it was necessary to shot the tank at that moment. I answer. There still were terrorists in the basement of the dining hall and they were resisting. Two Alfa officers were killed exactly at that moment when they were shot dead in their backs from behind a closet. The tank shot at the foundation of the dining hall and a total of seven shots were fired," Mr Sobolev explained.
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Author: Alana Besolova, CK correspondent
