How the hostages died

24 years later, Patrushev accused Shoigu of the deaths in Nord-Ost. Elena Milashina talks about the tragedy - how it happened

Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation and ex-director of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev said that the “confusion” of the rescue services led to the death of 130 hostages during the storming of the theater center on Dubrovka in 2002.

In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he said that “the FSB units worked professionally,” but the gas antidote (which was used during the assault) was administered incorrectly by the rescuers. In 2002, the Ministry of Emergency Situations was headed by Sergei Shoigu, who was dismissed from the post of Minister of Defense in May 2024.

Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina in the NO.Media studio talks about the Nord-Ost tragedy and why the attempt to shift responsibility to the “rescue services” and Sergei Shoigu does not explain the main thing.

• Why did the security headquarters only consider the assault option?
• Who made the decision to use the aerosol?
• Why weren’t doctors warned about the composition of the substance?
• And how did it happen that dozens of hostages died even before the doctors and rescuers arrived?