Muscovites commemorate victims of "Dubrovka" terror act

Due to the pandemic, the annual commemorative events on the anniversary of the seizure by militants of the "Dubrovka" Theatre Centre in Moscow, where the musical "Nord-Ost" was staged, were limited to laying flowers and a minute of silence.

On October 23, 2002, during the musical "Nord-Ost" at the above Theatre Centre, militants led by Movsar Baraev took 916 people as hostages. In exchange for their lives, they demanded to stop hostilities in Chechnya and withdraw federal troops from there. The militants' demands were rejected, and on October 26, law enforcers stormed the centre with the use of some gas. During the storm, 40 militants were killed. According to official figures, 130 hostages perished; more than 700 others suffered.

It was only in 2017 that Russia for the first time officially announced a causal link of the storm with the death of the hostages.

Now, 19 years after the terror act, the use of gas by law enforcers during the storm remains controversial, commentators on the Internet have pointed out.

At the same time, some users have expressed the opinion that law enforcers had made a right decision.

"If we compare it with other special operations conducted by world special services to neutralize terrorists, then the use of gas was a reasonable option, in my opinion. They worked competently. Most importantly, they saved a large number of people," the user named Rolls Royce has noted.