DATE=9/1/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA BOMB (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-253337
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: THIS REPORT UPDATES CR 2-253330 ///
INTRO: An investigation into the bombing of a Moscow
shopping mall is focusing on a previously unknown
group opposed to the growth of Western-style
consumerism in Russia. V-O-A's Peter Heinlein in
Moscow reports 24 people injured in the blast remain
hospitalized, several in critical condition.
TEXT: A leaflet found at the scene of Tuesday's blast
claims the bomb was planted by a group calling itself
the "Union of Revolutionary Writers." The leaflet
says the group is waging a guerrilla war against
consumerism. It warns "Consumers, we do not like
your way of life, and it is not safe for you".
A spokesman for Russia's Federal Security Service,
Alexander Zdanovich, the main successor to the Soviet
K-G-B, told reporters the writer's union is the main
focus of its investigation.
/// ZDANOVICH ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says the leaflet describes the bombing, so
authorities are following this lead."
Mr. Zdanovich noted that the leaflet also lists an
internet website featuring a photograph of a young man
named Dmitry Pimenov, identified as the "son of a
communist." A statement on the web page urges readers
to "blow up all the bombs you have".
Tuesday's blast heavily damaged a video arcade crowded
with young people at a shopping mall in the center of
Moscow, 100 meters from the Kremlin. The three-level
undergound mall features mostly upmarket shops and
restaurants too expensive for the vast majority of
Russians.
But the third floor video arcade and several fast food
restaurants nearby have become a popular hangout for
young Muscovites. Most of the 41 people treated for
injuries from the blast were under 21 years of age.
/// OPT /// One of those hospitalized, 20-year old
Alexander Belikov, was inside the video arcade at the
time of the explosion. He described a scene of terror.
/// OPT // BELIKOV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER
///
/// OPT /// He says it was just bang, crash,
explosion. Electric charges were hanging on, he says,
and he was lying on the floor trying to get rid of
them, and people were screaming everywhere. The place
was enveloped in black burning smoke. /// END
OPT///
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov (on Wednesday) called the
mall bombers "beasts," and said they should be shot.
Mayor Luzhkov, a likely contender in next year's
presidential elections, oversaw construction of the
mall two years ago to mark the capital's 850th
anniversary.
Tuesday's bomb is the second such incident near the
Kremlin in four months. An explosion in May heavily
damaged the Intourist hotel, just across the street
from the mall. Investigators said that bombing was
part of a struggle between two local criminal gangs.
(Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/KL
01-Sep-1999 13:16 PM EDT (01-Sep-1999 1716 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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