Translated material
Three days of remembrance
October 26, which also became the day the hostages died, is the official date of commemoration of those killed at Dubrovka. However, even yesterday, mourners came to the building of the Palace of Culture on Dubrovka - from the armfuls of carnations some of them could guess that the names of their relatives were engraved on the memorial plaque on the wall of the Theater Center building. Pensioner Marina Nikolaevna, whose niece Vera Frolova died here along with her husband Evgeniy, came here for the first time in four years. The Frolov family has two minor sons left orphans, who are being raised by their grandparents, the parents of Evgeniy Frolov. “I couldn’t make up my mind, I didn’t have the strength,” she told a Vremya Novostei correspondent. - And today I felt drawn to it. Psychologists did not advise taking children here, so it seems to me that they still don’t fully understand everything, although the grandmother was not afraid - she took the eldest to the last performance.” Marina Nikolaevna, in her own words, although she does not like crowded events, was somewhat surprised yesterday by the absence of the promised rally in memory of the victims. “On Thursday I will go to the cemetery, and everyone else will probably go,” she was upset that she would not be able to express her condolences to other people who lost their loved ones at Dubrovka.
The official mourning ceremony on the day of liberation usually attracts several hundred people each year. In order for officials from the mayor's office and the Kremlin to quickly lay a wreath and say a few words, the streets around the Theater Center are blocked - almost like four years ago, when the building seized by terrorists was cordoned off by a ring of policemen and soldiers. And after a couple of days, not a trace remains of the presence of the powers that be on the square in front of the Palace of Culture. Residents of surrounding houses retain the memory of unofficial commemorations longer. “Last year, seven white doves were launched here in memory of the victims,” Victoria Chugai, who lives nearby, told a Vremya Novostei correspondent. “We still feed them, although there are only five of them left.”
The Palace of Culture itself, according to Deputy Director for Cultural Events Tamara Chernyavskaya, will operate as usual on mourning days. “Creative groups are holding rehearsals, but there are no and will not be any festive events,” she said in an interview with a Vremya Novostei correspondent. However, according to her, after “Nord Ost” the tenants use the concert hall of the Palace of Culture exclusively for rehearsals. And although the reasons for the lack of demand for the premises are “complex”, she did not exclude the consequences of tragic events.
Throughout the four years, legal passions did not subside - relatives of the victims and lawyers argued in what monetary units to calculate the “moral damage” from the loss of loved ones and, most importantly, who should pay for it. In 2004, the Supreme Court determined that the direct causer must compensate for moral damage. However, 40 militants who participated in the capture of the Palace of Culture were eliminated during a special operation. Now Shamil Basayev, who took responsibility for preparing this action, has also been killed. And the investigation into the terrorist attack at the Dubrovka Theater Center has not yet been completed. The period of preliminary investigation, according to the press service of the Moscow prosecutor's office, has been extended until November 19 of this year. And it is possible that this is not the last extension, since the investigative authorities are petitioning to extend the period for another four months. It seems that some relatives of the victims have already come to terms with the fact that answers to many important questions - including the true reasons for the death of so many hostages - will remain unanswered for a long time. “I’m not following the investigation, it won’t bring my son back,” Raisa Platonova, who lost her 33-year-old son Yuri in Dubrovka, and after him her husband, who could not bear the tragedy, told Vremya Novostey. “I don’t communicate much with other victims, but some of the liberators come to us to remember.”