Russian officials respond to theatre raid criticism

Facing growing criticism of the secrecy surrounding how the Moscow theatre siege was ended, Russian officials today showed off explosives and other evidence found at the scene.

The disclosures came a day after the health minister confirmed that a powerful opiate gas was used to subdue the rebels before commandos stormed the building.

And it also followed an earlier report that an alleged member of a Chechen terrorist gang, Sergei Krymgerei, had been arrested in Moscow with a champagne bottle holding 17.6lbs of lethal mercury.

Krymgerei is suspected of plotting to use it for a terrorist attack. He has refused to speak to investigators.

At least 117 people, not including the assailants, died as a result of the use of the aerosol compound, based on the fast-acting opiate fentanyl, which was pumped through the theatre’s ventilation system early on Saturday.

Some 184 former hostages remained in hospital today, eight of them in a serious condition, the Interfax news agency said.

Health Minister Yuri Shevchenko said yesterday that the compound itself was not lethal, but became so when used on people who had been starved of oxygen, dehydrated, hungry, unable to move adequately and under severe psychological stress.

“It is precisely these factors that led to a lethal outcome for some of the hostages,” Shevchenko said.

However, injected, skin patch and oral doses of fentanyl sold in the US carry warnings that the anaesthetic can be fatal if administered in too high a dose, and that doses must be customised, taking into account the patients’ size and any previous exposure to similar drugs.

Also yesterday, Danish authorities arrested Akhmed Zakayev, a key aide to Chechen rebel President Aslan Maskhadov.

Russia has requested Zakayev’s extradition and claims he was involved in the hostage-taking and other terror attacks.

The arrest was a sign that Western countries are now taking more seriously Moscow’s claim that Chechen separatists are linked to international terrorism.

Meanwhile, Chechens living in Moscow complained of increased harassment following the theatre siege and said police were making unannounced visits to their homes.

Elita Usmanova, 33, a young Chechen woman, said police armed with automatic rifles showed up at her apartment and took her two teenage sons to the local police station, where they were photographed, fingerprinted and questioned for several hours before being released.

She said she was afraid to let her children go to school or leave the apartment, for fear they would be detained again or attacked on the street.

“Friends called and said it’s better to stay home. The police are stopping women and children, there is no difference,” she said.

Andrei Kurilenko, who yesterday buried his 13-year-old son Arseny, an actor who was killed in the hostage crisis, pleaded for tolerance.

“The main thing is that there be no revenge, especially on ethnic lines, because people will die, children will die,” he said.

The heavily armed men and women who took more than 750 people hostage as they watched a musical had demanded an end to the war in Chechnya.

Russian officials have accused Maskhadov, whom foreign governments had previously considered a moderate Chechen leader, of involvement in the operation, but have not offered any evidence.