Analysts recall closed nature of inquiry into Dubrovka terror act

Authorities have failed to disclose information about what gas was used during the storming of the Dubrovka Theatrical Centre, where terrorists took hostages in October 2002. The results of the investigation have not yet been disclosed; and the officials responsible for the hostages' deaths have not been punished.

On October 23, 2002, during the musical "Nord-Ost" at the Theatrical Centre, militants led by Movsar Baraev took 916 people hostage. In exchange for hostages' lives, they demanded an end to the fighting in Chechnya and the withdrawal of federal troops from the republic. The militants' demands were not met, and on October 26, law enforcers conducted an operation to free the hostages by using gas. During the operation, 40 militants were killed. According to official data, 130 hostages also perished; more than 700 others were injured.

"The Nord-Ost hostage taking has become both a symbol of the destruction of a prosperous world by terrorists who had lost their humanity, and a symbol of the state's readiness to ignore the human cost in the fight against terrorism and any other fight," Lev Shlosberg*, a politician and a deputy chairman of the "Yabloko" Party, has written in his Telegram channel on the anniversary of the above terror act.

He has recalled that some gas was used during the operation to free the hostages, but the Russian Ministry of Public Health has officially refused to provide information about its properties.

Then, the court refused to pay compensations to victims' relatives. Vladimir Putin said that the people died "not as a result of the gas," which, according to his version, was harmless, but fell victim to "a number of circumstances."

Elena Milashina, a journalist, has noted in her column in the website of the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence** that the Dubrovka terror act was "the last of the terror acts committed under Putin, when the media, including state-owned ones, still possessed the freedom of speech."

"They could have saved many more hostages if the negotiations with the terrorists had continued. But there was no goal to save people," Ms Milashina believes, noting that none of those who had planned the assault knew about the consequences of using gas.

However, as Elena Milashina has pointed out, authorities have indirectly acknowledged the danger of the used gas. Two years later, they planned to use it during the assault on the seized school in Beslan, and the special fighters and militaries were given gas masks, while "the operative headquarters in Beslan was not prepared to provide assistance to the hostages in case of the use of gas."

The Nord-Ost terror act was one of landmark events that changed Vladimir Putin's worldview, Arkady Dubnov, a political analyst, believes.

Alexei Novosyolov, the head of the "Minute by Minute" project, has recalled Anna Politkovskaya's participation in attempts to save hostages.

"She entered the building and tried to negotiate the release of people, but by that time the terrorists had stopped releasing hostages. But she managed to agree that she would bring water and juices into the building for the hostages," Mr Novosyolov said on the air of the "Morning Turn" YouTube programme.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."