Muscovites paid tribute to Dubrovka terror act victims

About 200 people gathered in Moscow for the mourning ceremony on the anniversary of the terror act at the Theatrical Centre. Only 60 victims out of a thousand received compensations from the authorities; it's too late for others to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Igor Trunov, a lawyer, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the terror act, also simply referred to as the "Nord-Ost", took place in Moscow, on October 23-26, 2002. A group of armed militants led by Movsar Baraev took 916 hostages. In exchange for their lives, the terrorists demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of federal troops from the republic. The demands of the militants were not satisfied. After almost three days, law enforcers carried out the rescue operation, during which, according to the official information, 130 hostages, including 10 children, were killed, and more than 700 other hostages were injured.

On October 26, former hostages, casualties' relatives and people sympathizing with them came to the Theatrical Centre in Moscow. They brought children's toys, flowers and candles to the venue.

The event was organized by the regional public organization for assisting the victims of the "Nord-Ost" terror act. At exactly 10:00 a requiem-dedication to the "Nord-Ost" sounded, after which those present honoured the memory of those who perished by a minute of silence. Then white balloons were released into the air. During the mourning ceremony, many of those present could not hold back tears.

All the victims of the terror act who had applied to the ECtHR received payments; however, the overwhelming majority decided to appeal to the ECtHR too late, and they won't get any compensation from the authorities, the lawyer Igor Trunov, who had represented victims' interests at the ECtHR, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by telephone. "About a thousand people had been recognized as victims, but only about 60 persons filed their complaints with the ECtHR. Others were either afraid or had no time," Mr Trunov has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 26, 2019 at 04:08 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.