The increasing incidence of terrorist attacks in all corners of the world cannot leave a single person indifferent. The realization that trouble can happen to anyone, at any time, forces us to understand the transience and unpredictability of life. The situation looks especially tense against the backdrop of the aggravated geopolitical situation in the world. Military conflicts, religious hostility, economic sanctions worry many, and overzealous avengers and fanatical people are capable of terrible acts.
Moreover, there have been different cases in the history of the country. First of all, these are explosions in the Moscow metro. And although recent years have shown that the security system is working much more effectively and the degree of tension has subsided a little, we should not forget the tragedies of past years.
general information
The capital's underground highway has experienced many tragic events over its long history. Explosions in the Moscow metro, fires, accidents due to technical faults, human factors - all this led to hundreds of victims and thousands of injured. Incidents that qualify as did not happen that often. Fortunately, many terrorist attacks were prevented in advance. There are events that are fairly well known to the broad masses of citizens, and there are also those that are still classified as “secret”, and only the special services have information about them.
If you believe the sources, then in total there were 7 terrorist attacks in Moscow, which were aimed specifically at metro passengers. It was not for nothing that the suicide bombers chose this place. Where else can you find such a large number of people in such a small area?
Terrorist attacks here and now
Such tragedies are not a tribute to modernity. The Criminal Code gives a clear definition: this is an action or threat of its commission by one person or a group of persons. The goals can be different, ranging from personal revenge to forcing the authorities to take certain actions. The concept of “terrorist attack” first appeared in the criminal code in 1996, but this does not mean that before that time we had not had to deal with them.
The first explosion in the subway, which is classified as a terrorist attack, occurred back in 1974. But the reluctance of the Soviet authorities to disclose information, the real possibility of keeping everything secret, and the secrecy of that case until now do not allow us to shed light on the events of long ago.
Unfortunately, recent history tells of more such bloody events, and this is another reason to think about how to protect yourself.
"Hello" from Yerevan
The largest incident that happened during the Soviet era was a collection of terrorist attacks that occurred at the same time, but in different places. These were explosions in the Moscow metro, in a grocery store and near the KGB building.
All these tragic events occurred on January 8, 1977. New Year's holidays and the celebrations associated with them are not over yet. People used public transport in large numbers. Some were going to visit, some were going shopping. And so, at half past five in the evening there was an explosion. The bomb was not planted at the station, but in a carriage and went off between the Izmailovskaya and Pervomaiskaya stops. It was the explosion in the Moscow metro in 1977 that led to the death of seven people. Another 37 received injuries of varying severity.
The organizers were three citizens living in Yerevan: Hakob Stepanyan, Zaven Baghdasaryan and Stepan Zatikyan.
Why did it happen?
This question was asked not only by investigators who were tasked with solving a terrible case in the shortest possible time, but also by ordinary citizens. It was very difficult to track down the criminals. At that time, there were no modern CCTV cameras, no Internet, no mass media, or other methods of fast and efficient data transfer.
Investigators had to work through several versions, which led them to Yerevan. Three residents of this city conducted anti-Soviet propaganda and were members of the nationalist movement, which prompted them to commit bloody terrorist attacks. By the way, they were also detained in Moscow, where they planned to carry out new crimes. Only thanks to a coincidence of circumstances, operational work and the professionalism of specialists, it was possible to prevent new explosions in the Moscow metro.
The punishment for the accomplices was cruel - execution. The execution of the sentence was scheduled immediately after the trial. There are rumors that such a rush was the result of falsifications by the investigative team, and the terrorists themselves did not admit their guilt.
Terrorist attacks of the nineties
This period is “rich” with several incidents. The Chechen war gave birth to many avengers. The inhabitants of this country have not forgiven the Russians for invading their territory, and the result has been an increase in terrorist attacks. There were explosions in the Moscow metro in 1996. Then 4 people were mortally wounded, and 12 more were taken to hospitals. also occurred on the stretch, but between the Tulskaya and Nagatinskaya stations. The explosion was very powerful, but, fortunately, it did not occur during rush hour, but late in the evening, when most passengers had already left the trains.
In 1998, there was an explosion that did not cause any deaths. Fortunately, only four people were injured. All of them were employees of the Moscow metro and survived.
Scary morning
The next terrorist attack was also not as successful as its organizers had hoped. It happened in the evening of 2001. Then a bomb was planted right at the Belorusskaya metro station. A small charge was attached to the bench, which saved the lives of twenty passengers.
But after 3 years and one day in 2004), at a time when Muscovites and guests of the capital were getting to work, school, or on business, a powerful explosion occurred in the Moscow metro. February 2004 will forever be remembered as a terrible day. It was then that it became clear to everyone that it was necessary to take measures to ensure the safety of citizens at all levels.
Ruined youth
A young guy Anzor Izhaev, who was only 21 years old at the time of the terrorist attack, blew himself up in the carriage as it moved between the Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya stations. By killing himself, the man took 41 innocent victims to the next world, and 250 people were injured.
The explosions in the Moscow metro, 02/06/2004, among other things, were organized and carried out by different people. Unfortunately, the perpetrators are not always punished. Courts take a very long time. But in 2007, the Moscow City Court found Murat Shavaev, Tambiy Khubiev and Maxim Ponaryin responsible for the tragedy. For which they received life imprisonment.
Black Widow
A truly terrible name was given to female suicide bombers. Sacrificing themselves in the name of revenge for their husbands, brothers, in the name of religion, they destroy tens, hundreds of people, causing grief for thousands of families. This is exactly how another explosion occurred in the Moscow metro. 2004 was overshadowed for the second time. It all happened on August 31 in the lobby leading to the platform of the Rizhskaya metro station. Ten people died then, but there could have been many more victims. The suicide bomber was stopped and knocked off her planned plan by a police patrol. Frightened, she did not go deeper into the room and detonated the bomb in the nearest crowd of people.
The terrorists who organized the explosions that occurred in February of the same year were found guilty. Over time, the cases were combined into one, and the court considered both incidents.
Holy Week
In 2010, Easter fell on April 4th. The week preceding the Bright Feast of the Resurrection of Christ began with tragic events. These were explosions in the Moscow metro (2010, March 29).
There were two of them that fateful Monday morning. Both terrorist attacks were carried out by women. Suicide bombers deliberately stood in the doors of train cars and detonated bombs while the train was stopped. Explosions in the Moscow metro in 2010 killed 36 people. Four died from serious wounds in the hospital.
These terrible events occurred in two places and with a time difference of just under an hour. First it exploded at the Lubyanka metro station. This happened at 7:56 am. The second explosion occurred at 8:36 a.m. when the train was at the Park Kultury station.
Despite the fact that the explosion in the Moscow metro on March 29, 2010 could not be predicted by the authorities, the evacuation and assistance to the victims was carried out very quickly.
Consequences of Bloody Monday
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, by evening it was possible to eliminate the consequences of the terrorist attack and organize the work of the metro. More than six hundred people were involved in the operation. In addition, numerous patrols and detachments of special forces systematically combed the city and kept order. Such vigorous activity was justified. Due to numerous false statements that claimed that there would be new explosions in the Moscow metro and other crowded places, we had to work hard to check calls, and there were more than a hundred of them on that ill-fated day.
The terrorist attack clearly showed that not all gaps in the security system of public institutions and transport have been eliminated. Dmitry Medvedev (the country's president at that time) ordered the development and implementation of clear guidelines that would prevent such tragedies by nipping them in the bud. The deadline was set to 2014.
Nowadays
It is difficult to judge how successful the authorities were in defeating terrorism throughout the country, in the capital and other cities in particular. However, the irrefutable fact is that after 2010 there were no explosions in the Moscow metro.
At the same time, there were accidents that occurred for various reasons. Among them are severe wear and tear of the material and technical base, and the negligence of some employees of various ranks. The destinies of people sometimes end up in the hands of irresponsible personnel, and the result is human lives. This is exactly what happened in 2014, when the train derailed. Then 20 people died. This high-profile and resonant case still excites the minds of people, and those responsible from among the highest ranks are still under investigation.
Modern methods of combating terrorism require different approaches. This is surveillance of passengers, inspection of their belongings, documents, clarification of identity in case of the slightest doubt from law enforcement officers. The latest innovation that they want to implement is the armament of metro security, similar to other countries. Some will say that these are unnecessary measures, others may agree, but it is necessary to protect people from such a disaster as explosions in the Moscow metro. Photos and eyewitness accounts testify to the nightmare that can befall anyone. To prevent this from happening again, you should be understanding of the work of the intelligence services.
On February 6, 2004, in the morning during rush hour, a terrorist attack was committed in the Moscow metro. On the stretch between the Paveletskaya and Avtozavodskaya stations of the Zamoskvoretskaya line, an electric train car was blown up.
According to the investigation, terrorists Panaryin and Khubiev, having arrived in Moscow, made a bomb from a mixture of nitrate, aluminum powder, plastic, electronic circuits, detonators, which were used as television plugs, as well as explosives from VOG-25 rounds (VOG-25 fragmentation round). 25 combines a grenade and a propellant charge in a cartridge case). The plastic, detonators and explosives from VOG-25 were given to them by Shavaev. The terrorists placed all this in a plastic bucket, covered it with plasticine inside and outside, and embedded several kilograms of nuts and bolts in the plasticine. The total mass of the explosive device was 19 kilograms. The top of the bucket was filled with epoxy resin. The bomb was stuffed into a backpack, and then handed over to the suicide bomber, a resident of the Malokarachaevsky district of Karachay-Cherkessia, Anzor Izhaev, who, together with the Khubievs, underwent sabotage training in the camp of the Arab Abu-Umar. On the morning of February 6, 2004, with a backpack on his back, Izhaev entered the Kantemirovskaya metro station and closed the fuse circuit on the stretch between Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya.
In February 2007, the Moscow City Court found Maxim Panaryin, Tambiy Khubiev and Murat Shavaev guilty of involvement in terrorist attacks at the Avtozavodskaya metro station, as well as at the Rizhskaya station on August 31, 2004. All of them were sentenced to life imprisonment to be served in a special regime colony.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
On February 6, 2004, an explosion occurred in the capital’s metro in a train carriage between the Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya stations. 41 people were killed and 250 people were injured.
Chronicle of the tragedy
The train followed the Zamoskvoretskaya line to the center. As it later turned out, 21-year-old suicide bomber Anzor Izhaev, a native of Karachay-Cherkessia, was traveling in one of the carriages. The explosive device most likely was in his bag or on his belt.
At 8:32 a powerful explosion occurred near the first door of the second carriage. The blast wave that reached the first carriage knocked out the windshield and dented the cab of driver Vladimir Gorelov, who instantly applied the emergency brake.
Passengers contacted Gorelov via intercom, and, having received information from them about the terrorist attack, the driver asked the dispatcher to relieve tension on the stretch. 15 minutes after the lights went out, Gorelov, opening the doors, announced to the train passengers to evacuate, moving towards one of the stations.
Sergei Kavunov, a lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, accidentally rode in the third carriage of the ill-fated train. It was he who took upon himself the organization of the evacuation, suppressing manifestations of panic. The tunnel was heavily smoked, and passengers had to walk about 2 km before they got to the Paveletskaya station. By 10:15 the evacuation was completed safely.
Most of the casualties and injuries were in the second carriage, which collapsed almost completely. The third carriage suffered minor damage. In the first carriage, many passengers were cut by glass fragments.
Consequences
Because of the terrorist attack, train traffic on the entire Zamoskvoretskaya and Kakhovskaya lines had to be stopped. The tragedy occurred during rush hour; many passengers spent up to three hours underground.
The train that followed the one that was blown up stood in the tunnel for about two hours. According to eyewitnesses, there was no panic among passengers when the explosion of the previous train was announced over the intercom. There was no burning smell in the carriages.
It was possible to fully restore traffic on all metro lines only by 19:00. Due to the tragedy, the city's ground transport was in a state of collapse all day. Minibuses were almost taken by storm, and overcrowded trolleybuses and buses were stuck in traffic jams for a long time.
Investigation
During the investigation, it was established that Anzor Izhaev arrived in Moscow under the guise of a “shuttle”. His curator was Pavel Kosolapov, a military school cadet who converted to Islam, who lived in the Volgograd region, but fled to Chechnya.
In 2007, for participation in the terrorist attack, the court sentenced Maxim Ponaryin, Tambiy Khubiev and Murad Shavaev, who were also involved in the terrorist attack at the Rizhskaya metro station on August 31 of the same year, to life imprisonment.
conclusions
After the terrorist attack on February 6, 2004, the anti-terrorist program began to actively develop in the Moscow metro, and the creation of a centralized video surveillance system intensified. Today, surveillance cameras are available in all carriages of the capital's metro.
At the Avtozavodskaya station, in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack, a memorial plaque was installed on which the names of the 41 deceased passengers are engraved.
On February 6, 2004, an explosion occurred between the Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya metro stations, killing 41 people (not including the suicide bomber), and injuring another 250 people.
An explosive device with a capacity of 4 kg of TNT was detonated in the second carriage of the train.
At the time of the explosion, the train did not have time to completely leave the Paveletskaya station and enter the tunnel.
According to the results of the investigation, the terrorist attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, a native of Karachay-Cherkessia, Anzor Izhaev, born in 1983. The terrorist arrived in Moscow on an intercity bus disguised as a shuttle. The leader of Izhaev’s terrorist group turned out to be Pavel Kosolapov, a native of the Volgograd region, a military school cadet who converted to Islam and fled to Chechnya.
The Moscow City Court sentenced three organizers of the terrorist attack - Maxim Ponaryin, Tambiy Khubiev and Murat Shavaev - to life imprisonment.
After this terrorist attack in the Moscow metro, the implementation of an anti-terrorism program began to create a centralized video surveillance system in the metro.
Terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro
The first ever terrorist attack in the capital's metro took place on January 8, 1977. An explosion occurred on a train traveling between the Izmailovskaya and Pervomaiskaya stations, as a result of which 7 people were killed and another 37 were injured of varying degrees of severity.
On November 24, 1992, an explosive package thrown by teenagers was detonated at the Prospekt Mira metro station. No harm done.
On June 11, 1996, as a result of the explosion of an improvised device between the Tulskaya and Nagatinskaya stations, 4 people were killed and 16 were injured, 250 people were evacuated through the tunnel. The power of the device was 340 grams of TNT. Since the explosion occurred a few days before the presidential elections, many perceived it as an election provocation. No terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack.
On January 1, 1998, an explosion occurred in the lobby of the Tretyakovskaya station. Three people were injured. The power of the explosive device was 150 grams of TNT.
The first major terrorist attack in Moscow occurred on August 8, 2000. A homemade bomb, which was in a bag left at the kiosk, exploded in an underground passage under Pushkinskaya Square, near the entrance to the Pushkinskaya, Tverskaya and Chekhovskaya metro stations. As a result of the terrorist attack, 13 people were killed and more than 130 were injured. The explosive device contained TNT and hexogen. There are still no arrests or charges in this case.
Another explosion occurred on February 5, 2001. A device with a power equivalent to 0.5 kilograms of TNT exploded in the underground lobby of the Belorusskaya metro station. 20 people were injured, including two children. At that time, the explosive device was left in the ceiling above the bench on the second track platform. The culprits could not be found.
On August 31, 2004, at 20:50 Moscow time, a suicide bomber carried out a terrorist attack near the lobby of the Rizhskaya station. 8 people were killed, excluding the terrorist herself and her accomplice, about 50 people were injured of varying degrees of severity.
On March 29, 2010, an explosion occurred at the Lubyanka metro station and a second at the Park Kultury metro station (radial). 41 people were killed, 88 people were injured, 73 people were hospitalized with injuries of varying severity.
On Friday, February 6, passengers on the Zamoskvoretskaya line of the Moscow metro were victims of a terrorist attack, which is likely to become the largest such incident in the history of the Russian capital after the seizure of the theater center on Dubrovka and the explosions of residential buildings in 1999. Already, the officially announced number of victims has reached 250 people. Up to 50 (37 - according to official data, 50 - according to the Ren-TV television company) people died, 122 were hospitalized in the 1st, 7th, 13th, 33rd, 36th, 53rd city hospitals and the Sklifosofsky Institute of Emergency Medicine, and another hundred victims were provided with assistance on the spot. At the same time, the number of victims may increase after the remains of the dead are completely evacuated from the tunnel. According to preliminary data, about 1,500 people were traveling on the train, and at 10:15 am it was announced that the evacuation of the living was completed. According to rescuers, about 800 people were rescued from the tunnel. The fate of the remaining passengers on the train is still unclear. One of the ambulance doctors said that there were many more dead than had already been announced, and their remains were literally scattered throughout the tunnel.
The explosion occurred at about 8:32 am in the second carriage of the train (according to some sources, at the first door of the second carriage), traveling from the Avtozavodskaya metro station to the Paveletskaya metro station. Although at first it was assumed that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, it is now clear that the explosive device was not in the suicide bomber’s belt, but in a backpack or suitcase standing on the floor of the car. At first, experts spoke about a power equivalent to one or two kilograms of TNT, but at about 12:40, Moscow Vice-Mayor Valery Shantsev said that the power of the explosive device was at least five kilograms of TNT. Law enforcement agencies are also considering the possibility of a spontaneous detonation of an explosive being transported in the subway, although the most likely explanation for what happened remains a terrorist attack.
It became known that shortly before the explosion, a certain man approached a metro employee at the Avtozavodskaya metro station and said: “You will have a holiday!” The station's video surveillance cameras, the recordings of which are now being studied by FSB officers, recorded a man aged 30-35 years and a woman with the appearance of natives of the Caucasus, who were holding two suitcases. Now these people are wanted.
Driver Vladimir Gorelov, who was driving the electric train, heard an explosion when the train was about 500 meters from Avtozavodskaya and two kilometers from Paveletskaya. According to him, he applied the emergency brake, immediately contacted the dispatcher and demanded to remove the high voltage on this stretch. The blast wave tore the second car around, turning it, according to one of the representatives of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate, into a “meat grinder.” The third car, on the contrary, was crushed by the blast wave reflected from the walls of the tunnel. Immediately after the explosion, a fire of the fifth (highest) degree of complexity began, and the fire spread to most of the train. The people in the smoke-filled carriages could not open the doors for some time, but when the high voltage was removed, the doors opened and people went out into the tunnel. Some had to walk through the tunnel about 2 kilometers to Paveletskaya, while the rest headed to Avtozavodskaya, which was closer. According to eyewitnesses, the evacuation took place without panic.
Emergency Situations Ministry specialists - 10 search and rescue groups and the Centrospas squad - arrived at the scene of the incident in cars and helicopters. 50 ambulances and 10 fire brigades were also called to the scene of the explosion. The fire was extinguished only by 10:40, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations announced the completion of the rescue operation by 11:45. However, another victim was found not far from the explosion site after 13:00. A first-aid post was set up in the Paveletsky railway station building, where doctors provided assistance to the victims.
Immediately after the explosion, train traffic on the Zamoskvoretskaya line from the Novokuznetskaya metro station to the Krasnogvardeyskaya metro station was stopped. Passengers on the train that followed immediately after the explosion spent about 4 hours in the tunnel. Currently, trains run from Rechnoy Vokzal only to Novokuznetskaya. The rest of the routes are served by ground transport. Mosgortrans has allocated more than 200 additional buses for this purpose, which run between Avtozavodskaya and Novokuznetsokaya, and also transport passengers from Krasnogvardeyskaya station to the center of Moscow. Although Deputy Mayor Valery Shantsev claimed that the metro would be restored by the evening rush hour, Mosgortrans promised to launch trains by the morning of February 7. In connection with the terrorist attack in the metro, the management of the Moscow Railway organized the movement of commuter trains to the Biryulyovo and Tsaritsyno stations along branches parallel to the metro line.
Ground transport traffic in the south of Moscow was almost paralyzed. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, it has become almost impossible to drive along Kashirskoe Highway, Andropov Avenue, Proletarsky Avenue and the streets adjacent to them. However, by mid-day the traffic situation on the roads returned to normal.
The train damaged by the terrorist attack remained in the tunnel between Paveletskaya and Avtozavodskaya. Working with him are rescuers, raising fragments of the bodies of the dead to the surface, and forensic experts, searching for the remains of an explosive device and reconstructing the picture of the incident. A criminal case has been opened into the explosion under articles of terrorism and murder.
Subway style terror
Undoubtedly, the metro is one of the most attractive targets for terrorism. During rush hours, a huge number of people accumulate there, there are no metal detectors near each turnstile yet, and the police, despite the fact that police officers underground can be found more often than on the surface, also cannot check every passenger rushing to work or home.
The history of major street terrorist attacks in post-Soviet Moscow began with the metro. More precisely, almost from the metro. The first major terrorist attack in the center of the capital occurred on August 8, 2000 in the “pipe on Pushka”. A homemade bomb, which was in a bag left at the kiosk, exploded in the underground passage under Pushkinskaya Square, which also leads to the entrances to the Pushkinskaya, Tverskaya and Chekhovskaya metro stations. 13 people were killed and more than 130 were injured. The explosive device contained TNT and hexogen. In addition, its design included screws, screws and a motorcycle battery. Although the prosecutor's office has several versions of what happened, there are still no arrests or charges in this case. The terrorist attack on "Pushka" caused an explosion in the consciousness of Muscovites - then for the first time they realized that everyone risks becoming a victim of terrorists.
The metro suffered another blow on February 5, 2001, when a device with a power equivalent to 0.5 kilograms of TNT exploded in the underground lobby of the Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya metro station. 20 people were injured, including two children, but there were no deaths. At that time, the explosive device was left in the ceiling above the bench on the second track platform. According to experts, it was this durable marble bench that saved people from death by absorbing part of the shock wave. Even the FBI helped the Russian special services in solving this crime, but the culprits could not be found.
Although neither of these two terrorist attacks was solved, in the popular consciousness both were associated with the problem of Chechnya. Three more explosions happened earlier and received much less public attention. On November 24, 1992, panic at the Prospekt Mira metro station was caused by an explosive package thrown by teenagers. However, no one was harmed by this joke. And on June 11, 1996, 4 people were killed and 16 were injured as a result of the explosion of a homemade device installed in the end part of a car traveling between the Tulskaya and Nagatinskaya stations. The seven-car train lost control and 250 people were evacuated through the tunnel. The power of the device was equivalent to 340 grams of TNT. Since the explosion occurred a few days before the presidential elections, many perceived it as an election provocation.
In 1998, three metro service employees received minor injuries from an explosion equivalent to 150 grams of TNT. The device was found by a shift driver of an electric train at the gate that closes the entrance to the station at night. It was in a small bag, which the driver took to the platform attendant. While she was calling the police, there was an explosion that broke the windows of the duty room. She and two other cleaners suffered minor injuries.
However, the Moscow metro managed to be a target of terrorism even before the collapse of the USSR. On January 8, 1977, at 17:55, a homemade bomb disguised as a duck exploded in a metro car between the Izmailovskaya and Pervomaiskaya stations. The explosion occurred in an open section of the stretch, but the train was brought to Pervomaiskaya, and passengers of other trains passing by without stopping could see the torn carriage, blood and bodies of the dead. The organizers were found six months later - they turned out to be residents of Yerevan Stepan Zatikyan, Hakob Stepanyan and Zaven Baghdasaryan. members of the group of Armenian nationalists. The court sentenced them to capital punishment.
Terrorist attacks in the metro happen not only in Moscow. In Tokyo on March 19, 1995, more than 500 passengers were hospitalized after members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect sprayed sarin gas at one of the stations. As a result, the death toll reached 12 people. Recently, the sect's chief chemist, Masami Tsuchiya, was sentenced to death for this massacre. Before him, 11 more sectarians received capital punishment in this case.
Elena Lyubarskaya
