2011 Minsk Metro bombing
| 2011 Minsk Metro bombing | |
|---|---|
Emergency services outside Kastryčnickaja Station
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| Location | Kastryčnickaja metro station, Minsk, Belarus |
| Coordinates | 53°54′6.84″N 27°33′41.04″E / 53.9019000°N 27.5614000°ECoordinates: 53°54′6.84″N 27°33′41.04″E / 53.9019000°N 27.5614000°E |
| Date | 11 April 2011 17:56 local time (UTC+3) |
| Target | Minsk Metro |
| Weapons | Nail bomb with 5-7 kg TNT equivalent strength |
| Deaths | 15 |
| Victim | 204 injured |
| Perpetrators | Lone wolves: Dzimitry Kanavalau and Vlad Kavalyou |
 Compilation of CCTV footage of the blast
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The 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred on 11 April 2011 when at least 15 people were killed and more than two hundred were injured in an explosion on the Minsk Metro, Belarus. The explosion happened at the central Kastryčnickaja station at 17:55 local time.
Initially the cause of the explosion was unclear, but was found to have been a bomb containing nails and ball bearings.President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko asserted that the explosion was aimed at undermining "peace and stability" and hinted at possible foreign involvement but also ordered an emergency investigation of domestic weapon storage facilities. The Prosecution Office launched a criminal investigation and classified the event as a terrorist attack.
Two suspects arrested on 13 April confessed to the bombing according to Belarus' deputy prosecutor general Andrei Shved. According to him they also pleaded guilty to Vitebsk cafe and Victory day bombings but the motives remain unclear. The investigation, which included law enforcement agencies from Russia, Israel and Interpol confirmed this view. Interpol stated that fingerprint evidence confirmed that the 2008 Victory day bombings and the 2011 Metro were committed by the same person. The trials attracted international political condemnation and the verdicts passed out have been questioned, primarily by the Belarusian opposition and the EU. The bombing came at a time of economic problems and protests against Lukashenko's government. Some believe that the national intelligence agency of Belarus planted the device, rigged a show trial and tortured confessions out of the two suspects. According to the investigation, the bomb was unique and the foreign investigators also expressed great interest in it. In March 2012 both men (Kanavalau and Kavalyou) were executed by shooting.
The explosion in the Minsk metro led to the country's largest loss of life since 53 people were crushed to death at Nemiga in 1999. Previous bombings in the recent history of Belarus did not result in any fatalities. In September 2005, two bombings occurred in the northeastern city of Vitebsk. The former was blamed on criminal gangs, and the latter, in which 46 people were injured, was blamed on hooliganism.
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