A Year Later, Putin Defends Moscow Hostage Rescue Attempt

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

In a press conference earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended last year’s hostage rescue effort that left 120 civilians dead after Russian security forces pumped an anesthetic chemical into a Moscow theater and stormed the building (see GSN, Nov. 4, 2002).

Putin said the gas did not lead to the civilian deaths, but he instead pointed to faulty medical care and harrowing conditions during the hostage standoff.  His comments, however, came in direct contrast to comments last year from several Russian health officials who indicated that the civilians died as a result of the chemical agent.

“There were many lethal results not because of the gas, but because doctors did not know the way people should be treated and, say, instead of putting a person on his stomach, he was put on his back, and swallowed his tongue and people suffocated on their vomit.  But there were antidotes in full volume for everybody who needed it and practically everybody was injected with that antidote,” Putin said.

Fifty Chechen militants captured the theater and held about 800 hostages before the Oct. 26 raid ended the standoff.  The dramatic chemical rescue attempt — during which every militant was killed — became a lightning rod for criticism over the use of chemical weapons in law enforcement situations.

Putin described the rescue operation as “impeccable.”

Last year a senior Russian health official said that emergency medical services expected an explosion at the theater and were unprepared to deal with civilians suffering from effects of the chemical.

Igor Elkis, chief doctor of Moscow’s ambulance service, said that crews at the scene carried the appropriate antidote but did not have enough on hand.

Shortly after the rescue attempt, Chechen military leader Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the hostage taking.

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Researchers Successfully Test Tiny Chemical Sensors

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has successfully tested a system of tiny sensors that can detect chemical weapons threats, Navy News Week reported today (see GSN, June 2).

In the system’s first test, the light weight and low power chemical sensors detected sarin at 26 parts per billion and mustard gas at 16 parts per billion.

The sensors are connected to networks that are designed to recognize dangerous agents after they have seen them once.

“Once these models are trained, then they can look at the data and say, ‘Okay, you’ve got something there that’s nasty, or not,’” said Steve Semancik, who led a team of researchers at NIST.  The test took place in dry air conditions, and Semancik said that researchers are still not sure how the system would operate with other factors in play.

“The next of what needs to be done on these is (to) assess … an ability to get past the interferences,” like humidity, Semancik said.

The sensors are small enough that they can be worn by service personnel and researchers are hopeful that they can replace chemical detection equipment currently carried by military personnel (Scott Nance, Navy News Week, Sept. 29).

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Meth Lab Bust Brings Chemical Weapons Charge

A North Carolina man arrested Monday for allegedly operating a crystal methamphetamine laboratory has been charged with the manufacture, possession and storage of a chemical weapon, the Sylva [N.C.] Herald reported today.

Danny Andrew Wilson was arrested after an anonymous tip led to a search of his home, according to Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe.  Wilson was charged with the chemical weapons count after officers discovered two chemicals that have the ability, when combined, to cause serious injury, Ashe said.  The charge was made possible by the USA PATRIOT Act, he added.

At the sheriff’s request, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency helped with the investigation and the site cleanup.

“DEA called the bio-hazard cleanup crew out of Johnson City, Tenn., to separate and store the chemicals,” Ashe said.  “This could have been a big health hazard for the community, but since the chemicals have been removed there is no longer any danger,” he added.

Wilson has also been charged with an additional seven felony counts dealing with the possession and manufacture of crystal methamphetamine (Lisa Majors-Duff, Sylva Herald, Sept. 25).

The Associated Press reported last week that North Carolina resident Martin Dwayne Miller also was charged with the manufacture of chemical weapons after a separate methamphetamine laboratory arrest.  If convicted, Miller could be sentenced to 12 years to life for a crime that usually results in a six-month sentence, AP reported (David Caruso, Associated Press/Salt Lake Tribune, Sept. 15).

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Afghanistan Ratifies Chemical Weapons Convention

Afghanistan yesterday deposited its instrument of ratification to the Chemical Weapons Convention (see GSN, Sept. 15).  It will become the 155th party to the treaty when Kabul’s ratification takes effect in 30 days (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Sept. 25).

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China Conducts Anti-Terrorism Exercise With Chemical Weapons Scenario

China has conducted a large-scale anti-terrorism training exercise in its Inner Mongolia province in the northern section of the country, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Sept. 8).  More than 2,000 law enforcement officers took part in the exercise, which included a scenario involving terrorists attempting to conduct a chemical weapons attack (Reuters, Sept. 24).

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