700 held in hostage drama
Officials refused to say who was behind the attack, but witness accounts pointed to an attack by Chechen separatist guerrillas.
If the armed gang proves to be Chechen, the Moscow hostage-taking incident would be the most audacious such attack since the first Chechen war of 1994 to 1996. A teenager released by the gang told Russian television that the armed gang wanted “the war to be stopped”.
This was an apparent reference to the long-running secessionist war in Russia’s turbulent Chechnya province.
The teenager, among youngsters released immediately by the hostage-takers, said the group of 20 to 30 attackers had burst into the theatre, which was showing the musical “North-East”, one firing a burst of bullets into the ceiling.
“He told all the actors to sit down on the front rows. Then women and men came in with masks,” Denis Afanasyev said.
“Some women were strapped with explosives and they said they would blow up the whole building in 10 minutes if they (police) started to storm the building.”
Another student called Alexei, also released, said the Chechens who burst in shouted: “Release Chechnya and Russia from Russians. Stop the war in Chechnya.”
Police marksmen took up position on roof tops and other vantage points overlooking the theatre, known as the former House of Culture in Melnikov Street in south-east Moscow.
President Vladimir Putin, who had been due to leave yesterday on an official visit to Europe, was informed of the incident and returned to the Kremlin for a crisis session with security chiefs.
Eye witnesses said 18-20 children were released from the building, as well as Muslims. One released woman said: “They were Chechens, and they didn’t bother hiding it.”
Police cleared neighbouring buildings, as a security cordon was thrown up around the area. A city bus blocked off traffic, while police cars closed off side streets to all traffic except ambulances.
About 50 police were on the scene, some marshalling a crowd that gathered behind the police cordon.
Police estimated 700 people were being held in the theatre, although the exact number remained unclear.
Elite police anti-terrorist teams poured into the scene and sealed off the area.
