DATE=9/14/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / FEAR
NUMBER=5-44251
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Police in Moscow have turned up several-tons
of explosives during a building to building search
that began after bombs destroyed two high-rise
apartment blocs, killing more than 200 people.
Correspondent Peter Heinlein reports Muscovites are
adjusting to the new reality of living with terrorism.
TEXT: Police are out in force on the streets of the
Russian capital, checking documents and searching
vehicles, especially those that might be used to
transport explosives. Notices have been posted in
buildings across the city warning of danger, and
urging people to report anything suspicious.
The volume of calls is so heavy that local police
station chief Yuri Novikov says all officers have been
ordered to work overtime.
/// NOVIKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN
FADE...///
He says -- the whole garrison is working 12-hour
shifts. No days off. Both ordinary and senior
officers.
With police taxed to the limit, Defense Minister Igor
Sergeyev offered the services of federal troops.
///SERGEYEV ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN
FADE...///
He says -- first there are Commandant's units, guards,
patrol units, all of them can be mobilized to help
provide security for Moscow.
Investigators determined that both deadly apartment
blasts in the past week were caused by huge explosive
charges planted in vacant ground floor shops and
offices. So authorities, warning of more possible
attacks, have ordered a search of all similar
potential hiding places.
Chief administrator of western Moscow's Kuntsevo
district, Lyudmilla Zuryayeva, says every one of the
city's 30-thousand apartment buildings is being
checked.
/// ZURYAYEVA ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE...
///
She says the work is in progress, especially in leased
spaces, places used as stores and warehouses. Ms.
Zuryayeva said basements in all 150-apartment
buildings under her charge have been cleared of
vagrants and locked.
But among cynical Muscovites, not everyone feels re-
assured by the massive security push.
Forty-two year old Vladimir Belikov spent Monday night
as part of a volunteer guard detail organized by
residents of his apartment complex. He says the
atmosphere on the streets of the capital changed
overnight when residents suddenly realized they were
potential terrorist targets.
/// BELIKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN ///
He says -- from one day to the next, people's
consciousness changed. People no longer feel safe,
even at home. So there will be a need for more guard
duty, more protection.
Mr. Belikov, and many others on Moscow's streets, say
the recent bomb attacks have called into question the
ability of local authorities to protect the
population. The newspaper "Nezavizimaya Gazeta" said
the key question is whether the government has control
of the country at all.
Another paper, the popular daily "Moskovsky
Komsomolets," commented -- another blast like the last
two, and panic will be inevitable. (SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/GE/RAE
14-Sep-1999 12:19 PM LOC (14-Sep-1999 1619 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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