DATE=3/22/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA ELECTION / BOMBINGS
NUMBER=5-45981
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russia's presidential election campaign, now
in its final days, has largely been a contest without
issues. V-O-A Moscow correspondent Peter Heinlein
reports, however, that there is one troubling issue
that refuses to go away.
TEXT:
/// SFX of music, fade and hold under to
///
Russia's independent television channel, N-T-V, is set
to broadcast a program this Friday titled "Independent
Investigations." The segment examines allegations
that the F-S-B, the main successor to the Soviet K-G-
B, covered up its role in an attempted apartment
complex bombing last September.
The incident occurred in the city of Ryazan, southeast
of Moscow, just days after four other apartment
building bombs killed nearly 300 people. This is how
the N-T-V program begins.
/// SFX of announcer, then fade to voice-
over ///
Place: Ryazan. Time: September, 1999. The
country is on the brink of declaring martial
law. Terrorist bombings in Buinaksk, Moscow and
Volgodonsk. Then, newspapers report another
sensation. Another terrorist act planned in
Ryazan is miraculously prevented. Police are
congratulating themselves when the chief of the
F-S-B suddenly says the explosives in Ryazan
were placed there by his agents.
/// fade under and out to ///
On a segment of the N-T-V program previewed by the
Voice of America, F-S-B chief Nikolai Patrushev
explains that the Ryazan incident was simply a routine
preparedness drill that went wrong.
/// Patrushev act in Russian, then fade to
///
He says, "This was not a bomb. The exercise may not
have been carried out well, but it was only a test,
and the so-called explosive was only sacks of sugar."
But Andrei Stolyarov, producer of the "Independent
Investigations" program, says most people in Ryazan
think the F-S-B is covering up the truth.
/// Stolyarov act in Russian, then fade to
///
Mr. Stolyarov says, "The majority of the people who
are not professionals think that it was a real
bomb."
Several independent experts agree. Moscow's "Novaya
Gazeta" newspaper interviewed the explosives
specialist who tested the sacks of powder found in the
Ryazan apartment building. The tests indicated the
material was Hexagen, the same explosive used in the
earlier apartment blasts. The F-S-B, however,
disputes the accuracy of that test.
"Novaya Gazeta" investigative reporter Pavel Voloshin
says the police officer who discovered the sacks of
hexagen also confirmed that the detonating device was
genuine. Mr. Voloshin says he uncovered further
disturbing evidence.
/// Voloshin act in Russian, then fade to
///
He says, he interviewed a soldier at a military base
near Ryazan who said he had been assigned to guard
sacks marked "sugar." But he became suspicious, and
took a sample to a military commander schooled in
explosives who said it was definitely hexagen.
Coming just days before Sunday's elections, the
allegations -- if proven -- could have a devastating
effect on the campaign of Acting President Vladimir
Putin. Before being appointed prime minister last
August, Mr. Putin was head of the F-S-B.
Several of Mr. Putin's opponents have tried to raise
the issue. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said
there was growing evidence the apartment bombings were
staged to justify the military offensive in Chechnya,
which in turn catapulted Mr. Putin to his position as
Russia's most popular politician.
/// Opt /// The Communists joined the Yabloko Party -
led by another presidential contender, Grigory
Yavlinsky - in backing a parliamentary resolution last
week calling for an official investigation of the
latest revelations. But the resolution was narrowly
defeated when Mr. Putin's supporters voted against.
/// End Opt ///
In a clear sign of concern about the potential of a
scandal just before election day, the state-run O-R-T
television channel Wednesday accused independent media
of dirty campaign tactics.
/// ORT announcer act, then under to ///
The announcer says "N-T-V and Novaya Gazeta are
preparing a provocation against the army and the F-S-
B." The state-run station charged that N-T-V
journalists were attempting to pressure Ryazan
residents to take legal action against the secret
police agency.
Novaya Gazeta reporter Voloshin says authorities have
assured him that a further investigation will be held
into the allegations contained in his articles. He
notes, however, that the probe will not begin until
after the election, and will be carried out by the F-
S-B. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE/JP
22-Mar-2000 14:24 PM EDT (22-Mar-2000 1924 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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