Terrorism in russia

Terrorism in Russia is linked to the rebel republic’s unrealistic desire to succeed. In fact, it had already succeded as a result of the 1994 –96 war with the retreat of Russian troops from Chechnya.

Террор в России не насчитывает и 10 лет. Но организованные за это время теракты задумывались так, чтобы никто в нашей стране не чувствовал себя в безопасности.

I. Define the genre of the text. What are the peculiarities of this genre? As a representative of Mass Media would you exaggerate the situation? What linguistic means would help you do it?

At 21.10 on October, 25a hostage drama began in Moscow when after the second act of the musical Nord-Ost had just started a group of 54 Chechens entered the hall, running, shouting their automatic weapons. They took control over the approximately 800 persons who at that time were in the theatre and threatened with the blowing up of the building if their demands were not met. The commando - 36 armed men dressed in camouflage and 18 women all in black, with guns and revolvers and explosives strapped to their bodies - identified themselves as the Chechen fighters and demanded the immediate stop to the ongoing war in Chechnya and the withdrawal of the Russian troops from 1his republic within one week.

After more than two hours the hostage takers rebels released some Muslims of he audience and about two dozen children. They tire wired explosives and mines at key points throughout the theatre. They also allowed their hostages to making panicked calls on their cellphones. Outside, hundreds of military troopers, city police and security services agents cordoned off the theatre, which is owned by a ball-bearing factory.

In the early hours on Thursday, October, 25some women and children were released, a young man escaped, and then the gunmen killed Olga Romanova, 26, after she refused to stop talking on her cell phone. Hostages were forced to remain in their seats. At 5.30 two women manage to escape through a bathroom window. Rebels threw grenades at them and placed the bathrooms off-limits. The orchestra pit becomes the toilet for the 750 hostages.

Both on Thursday and Friday a number of people is involved in the negotiations with the Chechen hostage takers. On Friday a journalist, a Russian TV crew, a few non-Russian doctors, some liberal lawmakers and Red Cross envoys come and go from the theatre, invited by the militants. A handful of hostages are freed. Security forces, able to decipher mobile phone calls, eavesdropped on every call going in and out of the theatre. One of negotiators, Boris Nemtsov, who met with the rebels later said that there was 'a real threat of detonation.' In the meantime the rebel leader, Movsar Barayev. informed that he could consider releasing the 75 foreigners in the theatre. The U.S. ambassador Alexander Vershbow and other envoys rash to the theatre at 9 a.m., then again at 11 a.m., but no foreigners were released and Barayev said there would be none. Barayev added that he wanted to see the evidence that Russian troops were to leave Chechnya and threatened with killing of hostages if it was not the case. On Friday, 25 October president Vladimir Putin addressed the nation, reiterating his hard-line stance on Chechnya. On Saturday at 1 a.m. a man from outside entered the theatre. The rebels caught him beat him bloody believing lie was a security agent. One of hostages threw a bottle at a gunman and a shot was fired. The bullet hit another man in the eye and wounded a woman in the stomach. Just after 2 a.m., two ambulances arrived and took away both. The man died. The woman survived.

Just after 3 a.m. on Saturday two explosions and bursts of gunfire were heard. The rebels were firing on commandos who tried to approach the theatre. At 5.15 a.m. as hostages and some of rebels dozed in their seats, commandos begin to pump a powerful sedative gas into the main hall through ventilation ducts. Pumping of the gas was the beginning of the special forces raid on the theatre. Sergey Ignachenko, spokesman for the Federal Security Service informed later that the gas was used and the raid began when troops heard the rebels stalling shooting hostages. However, according to all hostage accounts, this did not happen and at the moment of the action everything was quiet.

According to eyewitnesses the sedative gas concentrated under the stage and it quickly knocked out the rebels there. Olga KJiurina who was sitting in the front row said: 'The terrorists clumsily tried to put on gas masks. Thank heaven they didn't blow us up. I guess they weren't kamikadzes after all. They could have if they had wanted. They had enough time to push the buttons. 'Another hostage, Tatyana Kolpakova, remembers it differently: 'The Chechen women fell asleep right away. None of them even moved a finger. But the men didn’t pass out. They started to run around, screaming in their language, and shooting. I never fell asleep. I saw the raid with my own eyes.' One another hostage told her mother: 'They poisoned us like cockroaches!") At 7a.m. the attack was over. About 200 commandos took the hall. No mines or bombs had beer detonated. No hostages were shot in the chaos of the raid. Fifty of the 54 hostage takers were killed, many of them shot in the head while they slept with what Russian special troops tanned after the action as a 'control shot¹).

The raid was conducted by Alpha Group, a special Russian anti-terror detachment. One of Alpht commanders taking part in the operation gave the following account of the action to the Russian newspaper Izvestiya: 'As far as those bitch-terrorists are concerned, take my word for it, there's a bullet in each of them. Some of the Chechen men were, however, unfazed by the gas. These beasts vigorously shot back and tried to throw grenades at our fighters. But all of them were liquidated in a few minutes. Against Alpha, they were just puppies.'

Although shuttle ambulances and buses were at the scene, there were no mobile hospitals, anti-gas medical supplies, nurses or doctors. Commenting on the results of the operation one of the doctors at toe scene said: 'I saw no gunshot wounds at all. Those who died had swallowed their vomit or their tongue or their hearts had stopped. If only we had known beforehand! It might have been a bit different.' Although the raid was initially hailed as a success, the high death toll 117 hostages had been killed, 116 of them due to the gas has lead to raising many questions. Russian public seems, however, to give its support to the decision taken by the Russian authorities. A recent public opinion poll by Vtsi revealed that almost 80 per cent support the action taken by the Russian authorities. The hostage taking in Moscow has also resulted in the tougher Russian stance on the war in Chechnya and may result in more harassment of the Chechen diaspora living in Russia, meaning that the action taken by Chechen rebels in Moscow was in a way counterproductive... Sources: Various sources.

II.  Read the following articles and talk about your ideas and feelings concerning the events of Nord Ost in Moscow and Beslan in Northern Osetiya. What are the versions of those terrorist attacks? Analyze the language used in depicting the events: which adjectives describe the circumstances? feelings of the victims? which are the strongest verbs and expressions and how do they add up each other?

ЗАГАДКИ ТРАГЕДИИ «НОРД-ОСТА»

Те, кто внимательно следил за развитием ситуации вокруг «Норд-оста» могли заметить ряд странностей. Например, весь мир обошли кадры, на которых рядом с рукой убитого Мовсара Бараева стоит бутылка коньяка Хеннеси. Именно стоит целая, и, кажется даже не открытая. Получается, Бараев упал, предварительно аккуратно поставив бутылку на пол? Есть гипотеза о том, как коньяк попал к нему.

По мнению газеты «Жизнь», «Хеннеси» – своеобразный «автограф» группы Альфа, которая проводила штурм здания. «Когда я видел по телевизору возле убитого Бараева бутылку «Хеннеси», я сразу понял, что его ликвидировали наши ребята”, – рассказал в интервью этой газете один из ветеранов группы «Альфа». – Хеннеси – наш фирменный знак.

Все знают: «Альфа» почти не пьет, но если чем и отмечает победу или юбилей, то только этим элитным коньяком. Не знаю уж, где ребята взяли ту бутылку – в буфете или специально с собой принесли. Но теперь все «посвященные» знают: с Бараевым разобрались именно «Альфа»!

Другая странность – внезапный прорыв водопроводной трубы в здании ДК. Оказывается, он действительно был подстроен. Дело в том, что газ не возможно было запустить через вентиляционные трубы: террористы предвидели попытку воспользоваться психотропным газом и не только перекрыли, но и заминировали вентиляционные шахты.

Газ было решено пустить по водопроводным трубам. Этим же объясняется активное участие диггеров в проведении спецоперации. Диггеры изучили подземные коммуникации под зданием, собрали нужные сведения.

И самая большая загадка операции – газ, которым были отравлены и террористы, и заложники. Врачам запрещено рассказывать и о нем, и даже о симптомах отравления. Однако журналистам стало известно, что если в больницы и поступали люди с огнестрельными ранениями, то очень мало. Большинство – именно отравлены.

Перед тем, как потерять сознание, люди, видимо, задыхались и пытались стащить с себя одежду. На губах, у отравленных газом, выступала пена, они смертельно бледнели. Начиналась рвота. Сознание у них на столько помутнялось, что, даже придя в себя, они могли забыть собственный возраст.

Как только заложников выносили из зала, врачи вкалывали каждому препарат под названием «налоксон». Это – наркотический анальгетик, помогает при угнетенном дыхании, поражении центральной нервной системы. Применяется при лечении острого отравления, токсическом шоке. Противопоказания – заболевания сердца, детский возраст. Побочные явления – тошнота, рвота, тахикордия, нарушения сердечной проводимости.