The new century was remembered by many people on the planet with a series of major tragedies.
In August 2000, the Kursk submarine was in distress.
September 2001 - the largest tragedy in US history takes place, which the whole world sees live. Undermining by terrorists the largest shopping center in New York.
In July 2002, the largest disaster in the history of the air show - the Sknilovskaya tragedy. Su-27 fighter in distress crashes into the crowd of spectators.
From 23.10 to 26. 10. 2002 - a tragedy in Moscow in the capital's Theater Center on Dubrovka. Militants take hostages of the musical “Nord-Ost” and theater workers. And now everyone understands by the word "Nord-Ost" what tragedy and grief are for the whole country.
The attack on Dubrovka - as it was
About all the events that occurred during the musical "Nord-Ost", the banned film "Moscow Siege" tells with the accuracy of a front-line newsreel.
To carry out the terrorist attack, the militants considered several objects at which as many citizens as possible could be present. The choice was from three goals - the Moscow State Variety Theater, the Youth Palace and the Theater Center on Dubrovka. To do this, several female terrorists moved around the city and took photographs of selected objects.
As a result, the criminals chose a theater on Dubrovka because of the large capacity of the auditorium and the small number of utility rooms.
And already in early October, preparations began for the seizure of the building. Weapons and explosives were delivered from Chechnya to Moscow by cars. Fighters also arrived in small groups. Housing was selected in different areas of the city, in rented apartments.
The documentary film “The Moscow Siege” reproduces the chronicle of the events that occurred when the musical performance “Nord-Ost” was shown, both from the words of eyewitnesses and from the stories of the participants in the events themselves.
The strength of the group was approximately 40 people. In addition, half of them were female suicide bombers. Armed people in camouflage arrived at the Theater Center building in three minibuses. At 21.15 the seizure of the shopping center began, where a performance was going on at that time. 916 people turned out to be hostages - spectators and actors of the theater.
The first shots from the audience from the audience were not taken seriously. The shots sounded loud, but everyone wondered what would happen next, since no one believed in the seriousness of the situation during the performance (“Nord-Ost”).
Women suicide bombers
But the bandits arrived, filling the hall, and the suicide bombers appeared. But there were no shahid belts on them at that moment - they were put on later.
Unlike men who looked 20-30 years old, the shahids were clearly young. About sixteen to twenty years old. They all had explosive belts, grenades and pistols.
And it immediately struck me that the suicide bombers were clearly not versed in weapons. The young captors of the Nord-Ost show, what a pistol was, had a very distant view. And so, weapons skills were taught on the spot.
Negotiations with terrorists as it happened
The terrorist attack was carefully thought out, says that on October 24, 2002 at 7 p.m. the Al-Jazeera TV channel showed a prepared statement by the head of the militants Movsar Barayev, in which he declared the entire group to be suicide bombers and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from territory of Chechnya. Otherwise, the audience of the play "Nord-Ost", what death means, will experience for themselves.
At 5.30 a young woman Olga Romanova, a saleswoman of a perfumery shopping center, freely enters the building, and at 8.15 - Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Vasiliev. But the terrorists did not believe the negotiators and both were shot.
After the representative of the State Duma from Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov entered the negotiations , the negotiations took an active phase, and several dozens of the hostages were released during them.
Also, Russian politicians took an active part in the negotiations. Public figures, journalists, and the ex-president of Ingushetia took part in the negotiation process.
Special Forces Assault
However, all efforts made towards the release of all the hostages were unsuccessful. The militants began to behave extremely aggressively and kill people.
To prevent mass casualties, a special operation was launched by the FSB special forces detachment, which carefully studied the theater where the musical “Nord-Ost” was held, what is the building as a whole and a plan of individual rooms.
On October 26, 2002, at 5.30 in the morning near the shopping center, three explosions and automatic bursts rang out, and at 6:00 the special forces launched an assault. To prevent explosions, the FSB group used military nerve gas.
The sad outcome of the victory
At about 8 o’clock in the morning, the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs V. Vasiliev reported the results of the operation:
- killed - 36 bandits;
- released - more than 750 hostages;
- Killed - 67 people.
What are the results of the operation to free the audience of the "Nord-Ost" show, the film shows with ruthless accuracy. In hospitals, several dozen more people died in a few days. So the number of victims increased to 130 people (10 of them were children).
Among the dead - more than twenty people who worked in the theater.
Now in front of the Theater on Dubrovka is the memorial "In memory of the victims of terrorism", opened on October 23, 2003.