Translated material
Caucasian trace
Chechen separatists took responsibility for blowing up the Nevsky Express
The Prosecutor General's Office yesterday accepted a criminal case regarding the explosion on Monday evening of passenger train No. 166 "Nevsky Express", traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg . At the same time, the investigators did not name the priority versions, but only limited themselves to listing those already voiced - from an action by some extremist group to an ordinary criminal offense for the purpose of robbery. At the same time, the actions of Chechen militants among these versions turned out to be far from the only or even the main direction. Nevertheless, yesterday on Radio Liberty there was information about the involvement of the Chechen militant group Riyadh al-Salihin in the terrorist attack. So far no one has been able to confirm or deny this information.Investigators found out almost immediately that the Nevsky Express was blown up by a mine planted on the tracks and, therefore, it was a terrorist attack. True, no one has yet officially decided to guess who might be behind him. The explosion occurred on August 13 at 21.38 exactly under the train, under the second section of the locomotive, when the train was approaching the railway bridge over the Chernaya River. Experts came to the conclusion that, according to the criminals' plan, the train should have collapsed from a 30-meter embankment into the water. But since the train was moving at high speed (180 km/h) at that moment, the multi-ton express by inertia passed the dangerous section, and only after the bridge the cars began to fall on their sides. Cars five through seven and the passengers in them suffered the most. Most of the 231 passengers escaped with only fear and shock. 62 people turned to doctors for help, 19 of them were hospitalized.
Yesterday, representatives of the special services said that it was not yet possible to talk about specific suspects. According to them, for the last two days quite a lot of suspicious persons have been detained and checked for involvement in the explosion. Employees of the Malovisherovsky District Department of Internal Affairs were sent to look for possible witnesses among summer residents and village residents. But none of them have yet provided information about suspicious persons spotted recently in the vicinity of Malaya Vishera.
However, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, detectives were still able to find the alleged trail of the criminals. After questioning eyewitnesses, the investigators compiled a description and then a photo identikit of a certain man who was seen on a village road not far from the scene of the emergency, getting into a light-colored Zhiguli just at the moment of the explosion.
According to Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Bastrykin, the case will “move forward” after an examination of the remains of the bomb is carried out. Explosive experts have already established that a bomb with a capacity of about 2 kg of TNT was planted on the railway track. It was a contact type and worked immediately after the train wheels touched the rails. “It’s too early to talk about the motives of the criminals,” Mr. Bastrykin said yesterday, adding that “the first possible witnesses” have emerged.
The special services noted yesterday that the version of another attack by Caucasian militants is, of course, being considered among others. However, on Wednesday evening, information appeared on the Radio Liberty website that the Chechen terrorist group Riyadh al-Salihin had taken responsibility for the sabotage. An unknown person, who introduced himself as the deputy commander of Riyadh al-Salihin, announced this to the North Caucasus edition of Radio Liberty by calling. It is known about this group that in separatist circles it was called a “reconnaissance and sabotage battalion of martyrs.” It was headed by Shamil Basayev. Riyadh al-Salihin was included in the list of terrorist organizations compiled by the US State Department. After the hostage taking at the Dubrovka Theater Center in the fall of 2002, it was reported that militants from this particular group were responsible for the terrorist attack. They also declared their involvement in the seizure of a school in Beslan.
Meanwhile, on the website of the Chechen separatists “Kavkaz-Center”, which is the mouthpiece of extremist protests, yesterday no statements about the involvement of any group in the explosion appeared. According to the Chechen special services, nothing has been heard about Riyadh al-Salihin since the destruction of Shamil Basayev, that is, since March last year. However, the participation of Caucasian militants in the terrorist attack cannot be completely ruled out. According to operational information, several months ago the separatist leaders received about half a million dollars from abroad, after which the number of terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus increased significantly.
Yesterday, JSC Russian Railways completed restoration work at the site of the terrorist attack and announced the opening of passenger trains from Moscow to St. Petersburg on the Burga-Malaya Vishera section from 18.00. However, many trains were still running five hours late yesterday. Russian Railways' losses from the train accident, according to company president Vladimir Yakunin, could amount to about 200 million rubles.