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| Early Saturday morning, ], forces from Russia's elite ] ] unit of the ] pumped some sort of sleeping gas into the theater through a hole in the wall, and then stormed the building. | Early Saturday morning, ], forces from Russia's elite ] ] unit of the ] pumped some sort of sleeping gas into the theater through a hole in the wall, and then stormed the building. | ||
| At least 50 guerrillas and 115 hostages died in the raid or shortly thereafter. Efforts to treat victims were complicated because the Russian government refused to tell doctors what type of gas had been used. The head doctor of the Moscow public health department announced that all but one hostage had died of the effects of the unknown gas, surmised to be some sort of surgical ] or ], rather than from |
At least 50 guerrillas and 115 hostages died in the raid or shortly thereafter. Most of the guerrillas were shot in the head at point-blank range, indicating that they were executed after already losing consciousness to the gas. One Russian commando told the media, "I understand that this is cruel, but when there are two kilograms of plastic explosives hanging on a person, we saw no other way of rendering them safe." | ||
| Efforts to treat victims were complicated because the Russian government refused to tell doctors what type of gas had been used. The head doctor of the Moscow public health department announced that all but one hostage had died of the effects of the unknown gas, surmised to be some sort of surgical ] or ], rather than from gunshot wounds. Foreign embassies in Moscow, including the United States embassy, issued official requests for more information on the gas to aid in treatment, but were publicly ignored. | |||
| Russian President ] defended the raids in a televised address later that morning, stating that the government had "achieved the near impossible, saving hundreds, hundreds of people", asked forgiveness for not being able to save more of the hostages, and declared Monday a national day of mourning for those who died. | Russian President ] defended the raids in a televised address later that morning, stating that the government had "achieved the near impossible, saving hundreds, hundreds of people", asked forgiveness for not being able to save more of the hostages, and declared Monday a national day of mourning for those who died. | ||
Revision as of 20:37, 27 October 2002
Chechnya is a breakaway Republic in Russian North Caucasia seeking independence from Russia.
Basic Facts
Population: 1.3 million Area: 19.3 thousand square km
Cities
Captial: Grozny Other Principal Cities: Gudermes, Argun and Shali
People
Religion: Sunni Muslim since the 16th to the 18th century.
Languages
Chechen and Russian are used. The Chechen language is member of the Caucasian languages group.
Government
Chechnya is a republic. The president, Aslan Maskhadov, was elected in an internationally-monitored election in 1997. However, President Maskhadov has been unable to influence a number of warlords who retain effective control over Chechen territory. Russia refuses to recognize the Chechen government. Most other countries choose not to risk offending Russia by avoiding official recognition of Chechen independence.
History
From 1830 to 1859, Russian forces moved into Chechnya to secure Russia's borders with the Ottoman Empire. Chechnya was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1859.
During World War II, the Soviet government accused the Chechens of cooperating with the Nazi invaders. On orders from Josef Stalin, the entire population of the republic was exiled to Kazakhstan. The Chechens were allowed to return only in 1957, four years after Stalin's death in 1953.
Recent History
On October 27, 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected president of Chechnya. He declared independence on November 1, 1991.
Since Chechnya declared independence in 1991, Russia has attempted to re-take the country twice:
First Chechen War 1994-1996
In this war, Russian forces overran Grozny in November 1995. The Russian military was seen as incompetent. A majority of Russia's air power was expended over Chechnya. However, the Chechens conducted successful guerrilla operations from the mountainous terrain. Russian President Boris Yeltsin declared a unilateral cease-fire in April 1995.
In June, 1995, Chechen guerrillas occupied a hospital in southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk, taking over 1,000 hostages. Russian forces attempted to storm the hospital twice and failed. The Chechens were allowed to leave after freeing their hostages.
This, and televised accounts of executions and the demoralization of the Russian army, led to a Russian withdrawal and the beginning of negotiations on March 21, 1996.
President Dudayev was killed in a rocket attack on April 21, 1996.
Negotations on Chechen independence were tabled in August, 1996.
Second Chechen War 1999-Present
On September 9, 1999, Chechens were blamed for the bombing of an apartment complex in Moscow, in which many people were killed. President Vladimir Putin ordered forces back into Chechen territory. Currently, most of Chechnya is occupied by the Russian military.
Chechen forces have retreated into Kerigo Gorge in Georgia. Russia accuses the Georgian government of willingly harboring terrorists and demands that Georgia move against the Chechens. Several of the Chechens have been detained by Georgian authorities, but Russia claims that these are empty gestures, and has repeatedly warned Georgia that if real measures are not taken soon to control the Chechen rebels, it will invade and control them itself. Many analysts believe that Russia is waiting for the United States to invade Iraq first, so that it can label the Chechens as terrorists, and justify an invasion of Georgia on the same grounds as the United States claim in Iraq.
The House of Culture Incident
Chechen guerrillas, led by Movsar Barayev, nephew of a slain Chechen warlord, seized the House of Culture for the State Ball-Bearing Plant Number 1 in Moscow on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 and took over 700 hostages. Barayev's command of about 50 threatened to execute hostages until their demands were met. Their chief demand was the complete and immediate withdrawl of Russian forces from Chechnya. Approximately half of the guerrillas were women, which is highly unusual. Cell phone conversations with hostages trapped in the building revealed that the guerrillas had grenades and other explosives strapped to their bodies, and had deployed more explosives throughout the theater, indicating that they would blow up the entire building if government security personell attempted to attack. A videotaped statement was acquired by the media, in which the guerrillas indicated their willingness to die for their cause. In the first days, the guerrillas released Muslim members of the audience, some of the children in the audience, and a man with a heart condition, but refused requests to release non-Russian nationals. Several hostages managed to escape through rear or side windows; others were shot by the guerrillas as they attempted to escape.
Early Saturday morning, October 26, forces from Russia's elite Spetsnaz commando unit of the Federal Security Services pumped some sort of sleeping gas into the theater through a hole in the wall, and then stormed the building.
At least 50 guerrillas and 115 hostages died in the raid or shortly thereafter. Most of the guerrillas were shot in the head at point-blank range, indicating that they were executed after already losing consciousness to the gas. One Russian commando told the media, "I understand that this is cruel, but when there are two kilograms of plastic explosives hanging on a person, we saw no other way of rendering them safe."
Efforts to treat victims were complicated because the Russian government refused to tell doctors what type of gas had been used. The head doctor of the Moscow public health department announced that all but one hostage had died of the effects of the unknown gas, surmised to be some sort of surgical anaesthetic or chemical weapons agent, rather than from gunshot wounds. Foreign embassies in Moscow, including the United States embassy, issued official requests for more information on the gas to aid in treatment, but were publicly ignored.
Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the raids in a televised address later that morning, stating that the government had "achieved the near impossible, saving hundreds, hundreds of people", asked forgiveness for not being able to save more of the hostages, and declared Monday a national day of mourning for those who died.
Armed guards were posted at the hospitals the victims were taken to, and doctors were ordered not to release any of the theater patients, in case guerrillas had somehow hidden themselves among the hostages. Family members of hostages panicked as the government refused to release any information about which hospitals their loved ones had been taken to, or even if their relatives were among the dead.