Chechen terrorists alone carried out the 1999 Russian apartment bombings
| Chechen terrorists alone carried out the 1999 Russian apartment bombings | |
|---|---|
| DISPUTED | |
| "The 1999 apartment bombings in Russia that killed nearly 300 people were carried out solely by Chechen and Islamist terrorists, with no involvement by Russian security services." | |
| Domain | Crime & Public Safety |
| Tactic | Propaganda Technique |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1999 |
| Origin | Russian government statements in September 1999, used to justify the Second Chechen War |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-30 |
| Further reading: books on Crime & Public Safety | |
In September 1999, bombs destroyed apartment buildings in Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk, killing nearly 300 people. The Russian government blamed Chechen militants, and the attacks helped build support for the Second Chechen War, launched by new Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
A failed attack in the city of Ryazan raised suspicions, still unresolved, that the FSB security service was involved.
What the evidence shows
- Ryazan. On September 22, 1999, residents in Ryazan found sacks connected to a timer in an apartment basement. Local police said the sacks contained the explosive hexogen and arrested FSB agents. FSB director Nikolai Patrushev then said it had been a training exercise using sugar.
- Convictions. In 2004 a Russian court convicted two men from Karachay-Cherkessia, Adam Dekkushev and Yusuf Krymshamkhalov, for their roles in the bombings.
- Silenced investigations. Several people who investigated the FSB link died violently or suddenly, including Duma member Sergei Yushenkov, shot in 2003, and journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin, who died of a mysterious illness in 2003. Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who co-wrote a book alleging FSB involvement, was poisoned in London in 2006.
- No independent inquiry. Russia's parliament voted down a full investigation, and a public commission was obstructed.
Why it matters
The bombings were a turning point that helped bring Putin to power. Whether they were also a false flag cannot be settled without access the Russian state has refused to give.
Gaslighting When Ryazan residents found a bomb in their basement, the FSB told them it was a training exercise with sugar, which many still regard as gaslighting. The word comes from Patrick Hamilton's 1938 play Gas Light and the 1944 film Gaslight, in which a husband dims the gas lamps and insists his wife is imagining it. Where the word comes from · More gaslighting cases
Sources
- David Satter, Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State, Yale University Press, 2003.
- John B. Dunlop, The Moscow Bombings of September 1999, ibidem-Verlag, 2012.
- UK Litvinenko Inquiry, The Litvinenko Inquiry: Report into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, January 2016.