Russian apartment bombings
| Russian apartment bombings | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk |
| Date | 4–16 September 1999 |
| Target | Apartment buildings |
|
Attack type
|
Time bombings, terrorism |
| Weapons | RDX |
| Deaths | 293 |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
1,000+ |
|
Suspected perpetrators
|
|
The 1999 Russian apartment bombings were a series of attacks carried out on four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in September 1999 that killed 293 people and injured more than 1000 and spread a wave of fear across the country. Together with the Dagestan War, the bombings led the country into the Second Chechen War.
The blasts hit Buynaksk on 4 September, Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and Volgodonsk on 16 September. An explosive device similar to those used in these bombings was found and defused in an apartment block in the Russian city of Ryazan on 22 September. The next day, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the inhabitants of Ryazan and ordered the air bombing of Grozny, which marked the beginning of the Second Chechen War. According to the Moscow City Court, these were acts of terrorism organized and financed by the leaders of the illegal armed group Caucasus Islamic Institute. Thirty-six hours later, three FSB agents who had planted this device were arrested by the local police. The incident was declared to have been a training exercise. There are allegations that the bombings were a "false flag" attack perpetrated by the FSB in order to legitimise the resumption of military activities in Chechnya and help Vladimir Putin attain the presidency.
The MP Yuri Shchekochikhin filed two motions for a parliamentary investigation of the events, but the motions were rejected by the Russian parliament, the Duma, in March 2000. An independent public commission to investigate the bombings was chaired by the Duma deputy Sergei Kovalev. The commission was rendered ineffective by the government's refusal to respond to its inquiries. Two key members of the Kovalev Commission, Sergei Yushenkov and Yuri Shchekochikhin, have since died in apparent assassinations. The commission's lawyer, Mikhail Trepashkin, was arrested in 2003, convicted in a closed military court, and released from prison in 2007.
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