Many people believe that the Moscow Metro is the safest in the world. But even here there have been tragic incidents perpetrated by terrorist groups.
First explosion
Surprisingly, the first explosion in the subway in Moscow occurred back in Soviet times. Back in 1977, three people committed a terrorist act - Zatikyan, Stepanyan and Baghdasaryan. The first bomb planted by them went off between the Izmailovskaya and Pervomaiskaya stations. The second and third bombs exploded some time later on Bolshaya Lubyanka and Nikolskaya streets.
As a result of this terrorist act, seven people said goodbye to life immediately, another 37 received various injuries. The Moscow metro was temporarily closed. The explosion on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line was classified.
Secret with seven seals
Do not forget that all the events took place at a time when the government tried to keep silent about all sorts of tragedies. The consequences were quickly eliminated, no one in the city spoke about the tragedy. Some information was leaked to the media only three years later.
Guilty, of course, punished. Courttook place in the strictest secrecy and very quickly. Relatives of the criminals did not even have time to come to say goodbye to them before being shot. According to some modern historians, such a quick response could mean a fabrication of the case, but no one knows the truth.
After 19 years
Terror attacks in the Moscow metro resumed in 1996. Then a makeshift device filled with TNT exploded. The bomb was planted right under the passenger seat, and no one noticed the unknown black object. The accident occurred between the Tulskaya and Nagatinskaya stations. The tragedy claimed the lives of four people, another 14 could not get out of the cars on their own. Passengers with minor injuries had to travel by rail to the nearest station.
A lot has been said about who is to blame. It seems that Chechen fighters confessed to their deeds, but after checking the data, this information was not confirmed. The leaders of the separatist groups were also interrogated, but they denied any involvement. The case remains unsolved.
New Year 1998
The morning of January 1, 1998 began with a terrible message: "Terrorist attacks have been committed in the Moscow metro." Only a lucky chance helped this event not become a tragedy. An unknown ownerless package with wires and a clock was found by a train driver early in the morning when he was heading to work. He immediately took the bomb to the station attendant. While she called the post and told the situation, the mechanism worked.
Fortunately, the force of the explosion was small, and the duty and two more cleanersslightly hurt. But the psychological trauma they received was more severe. The investigation into the event reached a dead end. There is a version that this terrorist attack and the one that occurred two years earlier are related.
Early 21st century
Since the beginning of the 21st century, people have become afraid to go down the subway. The reason for this was the explosion of the Pushkinskaya metro station in Moscow. Perhaps due to the fact that this terrorist attack was most detailed in the media, or maybe because there were much more victims than all the time before, but it was from the terrorist attack of 2000 that a serious threat loomed over us.
The story of the incident is as follows. At about 6 pm, just at rush hour, two unidentified Caucasians approached one of the kiosks at the Pushkinskaya metro station. They wanted to make a purchase for foreign currency, but the seller at the kiosk refused them this, indicating that there was an exchange office nearby. The men headed there, leaving their personal belongings nearby on a bench. When they didn't return for a long time, the kiosk clerk noticed the package and immediately called the guard who was at the other end of the hall. Just as he was heading towards the bomb, an explosion occurred.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 12 people, about 120 more were injured. The severity of the blows was also increased by the fact that, in addition to TNT, the bomb contained various sharp iron objects.
At first, the investigators managed to get on the trail of a criminal gang, but as the further course of events showed, they had nothing to do with this incident. The culprits for the death of a dozen people were never found.
2001
Explosions in the subway in Moscow continued. The next explosion occurred in early February 2001 at the Belorusskaya station. But this event caused a lot of questions and discussions.
In the evening, at about 18:50, someone unknown left a black bag under a marble bench near the stop of the first train car. A few minutes later there was an explosion. Its power was small, and the shop took the whole brunt of the blow. Several people were hospitalized.
A terrorist attack or not a terrorist attack?
If these are terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro, then why did the criminals act so weakly? The bomb contained only 200 grams of TNT, and although this is quite a lot, it was not filled with fragmentation elements, as they do to increase damage. Moreover, the bomb was planted under the bench, and if it had been a meter further, there would have been much more victims. The investigation has reached a dead end. There were many versions, but none of them was confirmed or refuted.
February again
February became a fatal month for the Moscow subway. This time the explosion in the metro in Moscow took place on February 6, 2004. The tragedy is associated with the name of one Chechen militant - Pavel Kosolapov. It is his investigation that considers the organizer of this and several other terrorist attacks in the capital.
Explosions in the metro in Moscow in February 2004 differed in that this time the bomb was not planted, but it was carried by a suicide bomber. He entered the subway during rush hour, which is between 8 and 10 am. It is during this period that the largest number of people rush towork. Unsuspecting passengers boarded the second car of the train moving along the Zamoskvoretskaya line. The explosion occurred between the Paveletskaya and Avtozavodskaya stations.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 41 passengers, several hundred more were injured. Many people simply could not get out and suffocated from the smoke that resulted from the fire. Three wagons and hundreds of people were injured from the explosion of the bomb. This time the attack was prepared very carefully. The bomb was assembled to the highest standard and filled with a variety of damaging elements - nuts, bolts, screws, nails.
This time the investigation managed to find the ends. Not only Pavel Kosolapov, but also several of his associates were involved in the terrorist attack. Some of them managed to catch. They were put on trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Another explosion in 2004
In 2004, terrorist attacks and accidents in the Moscow metro became more frequent. The capital was seized with horror and panic. In just one year, two attacks on the subway, two blown up planes, many attacks on public transport in the city. The accident at the metro station "Rizhskaya" formally cannot be attributed to the tragedies in the subway, since the event occurred on the surface, near the entrance. But in the media every now and then there were headlines that the purpose of the terrorists was precisely the metro, but for some reason they did not manage to get below the surface of the earth.
So the story begins around 8 pm on the last day of summer 2004. Everyone rushes homebecause tomorrow is the first day of September, and the children must be properly prepared for school. Policemen are on duty at the subway entrance. Such precautionary measures were introduced due to the increased frequency of terrorist attacks. It seemed to one of the employees that a certain woman hesitated at the entrance to the subway. She was stopped and asked to show her documents. The woman turned and walked away. It was at that moment that an explosion was heard. The unknown person turned out to be a suicide bomber, and a bomb was planted in her purse.
There were no casu alties. A large amount of TNT and exploding objects led to the fact that three people died on the spot, seven more were inflicted with injuries incompatible with life, and they died on the way to intensive care. Hundreds of wounded were sent to hospitals.
One of the victims managed to find a fake passport in the name of Nikolai Samygin. The investigation came up with the real name of the terrorist - Nikolai Kipkeev. In this tragedy, he played the role of curator. His task was to follow the suicide bomber so that she went down to the subway. But since she could not do this, but decided to detonate the bomb right at the entrance, her accomplice was also injured. Subsequently, two more people involved in the explosion were detained. They were all sentenced to life in prison.
The last explosion in the metro in Moscow
After the tragedies of 2004, there was a lull for six years. The life of the capital returned to its former course, all the wounds were patched up, when suddenly … A series of explosions in 2010 deafened everyone. These events became the loudest and strongest in their psychological impact. Terrorists have proven that they are notsleeping, not quiet, but ready to wage a systematic destructive war.
Explosions in the metro in Moscow thundered with a difference of about half an hour. The first one took place at the Lubyanka station. According to eyewitnesses, a woman approached the car of the approaching train, the doors opened and after that there was an explosion. His strength was so powerful that he immediately claimed the lives of 24 people. It was on Monday, at 7:30, and the subway was overflowing with passengers. Closing the subway completely seemed unrealistic, so the rescuers only blocked the affected station to eliminate the consequences.
All other lines worked, and this did not prevent the second female suicide bomber from carrying out her sinister plan already at the Park Kultury station. The scheme was similar: a train approached, an explosion was heard. The power of this bomb was less, as a result of which 12 people died immediately. Later, four more could not be saved by resuscitators. The number of wounded and injured was several hundred.
Explosions in the metro in Moscow were only the starting point for a further series of terrorist attacks already on the surface of the earth. It was a whole chain of directed actions of a bandit group. The investigation almost immediately managed to get on the trail of the criminals. As it was reported later, the organizer of the general chaos, Magomedali Vagabov, was eliminated.
A long history of explosions
History of explosions inthe Moscow metro has been running for two decades. Explosion sites are marked in red on the Moscow metro map.
Terrorist attacks are one of the major ills of the 21st century. And our task is to always be on the alert. Follow directions from pamphlets posted on the subway, pay attention to suspicious individuals, and always report unknown orphan items. It is not known what the groups are preparing in the future, but thanks to vigilance and accuracy, we can stop them.
