Cold Open

It’s 9 PM, on October 23rd, 2002, in the lobby of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow.

It's intermission for the blockbuster musical Nord-Ost, and the audience is abuzz with excitement. Sandy Booker, an American from Oklahoma, buys a snack for his long-distance fiancée Svetlana Gubareva, and her teenage daughter Sasha. Sandy is visiting Moscow in the hopes that Svetlana and Sasha will return with him to America, where they can be a family together.

Act 2 is about to start, so Sandy goes back into the theater to find Svetlana and Sasha still sitting in their plush red seats. As the crowd hushes and the lights go down, actors dressed as soldiers fill the stage and start dancing to the ex-opening number.

Nord-Ost is a big, Broadway-style musical set during World War II. So Sandy doesn’t consider it unusual when a man holding a machine gun steps onstage. But it soon becomes clear that something is off. The man is wearing a ski mask, and the other actors look terrified. They stop dancing and run off stage. Sandy looks around in the dark theater and sees the aisles filling up with other people wearing masks and carrying guns.

Like everyone in the audience, Sandy is confused. He’s not sure if this is real, or part of the show. The musicians, who can’t see the masked men from the orchestra pit, think one of the actors has missed their cue, so play the same bit of music over and over. Until they’re interrupted by gunfire.

The man with the machine gun on stage fires at the ceiling. It seems like a special effect. But then Sandy notices bits of plaster falling from above. He realizes with horror that this is a real gun, firing real bullets. The man on stage shouts out in Russian: “We are from Chechnya. A war is going on there. We’ve just brought that war to Moscow.” 

Chechnya is a region a little smaller than New Jersey, located where Eastern Europe meets Western Asia. It declared independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, but that didn’t last long. Three years later, Russia tried to take Chechnya back in order to claim the area’s vast oil resources. They failed. But now, six years later, Russia has re-invaded. And this time, they’re succeeding.

The Russian military has decimated Chechnya. The Chechen rebels are hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. So in order to fight back, they’ve resorted to terrorism on Russian soil.

That’s how Sandy and an astounding 800 other innocent people find themselves taken hostage at the Dubrovka Theater. The terrorists will demand that the Russian military leave Chechnya. But the Russian government will refuse to negotiate, landing the hostages in the middle of a deadly stalemate on October 23rd, 2002.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is October 23rd, 2002: The Dubrovka Theater Hostage Crisis.

Act One

It’s 10:30 PM, on October 23rd, 2002 in the Dubrovka Theater.

The audience of Nord-Ost has been held hostage for ninety minutes. They sit in their seats in stunned silence as if the show is still going on. But instead of an orchestra, only one sound echoes through the theater - the stretch and rip of duct tape. The terrorists are affixing homemade bombs to empty seats in the audience. The explosives are old truck gas canisters jerry-rigged with scrap metal, screws, and nails - which will turn into deadly shrapnel if detonated.

One terrorist is on stage directing the others. Movsar Barayev, the leader of the terrorist group. They call themselves the Special Purpose Islamist Regiment, or SPIR. They were founded when Russia first invaded Chechnya in 1994, by Movsar’s uncle, Arbi Barayev.

Arbi was a notorious warlord and terrorist who earned the nickname ‘The Terminator’ for his ruthless crimes. In 1998, four civilians from England and New Zealand were working in Chechnya to set up a cell phone network. Arbi’s group kidnapped them, held them hostage, and eventually beheaded them. SPIR was also linked to the killings of six Red Cross workers, and multiple kidnappings of Russian journalists.

When the Russians first left Chechnya in 1996, it was a victory for Arbi Barayev and SPIR. The war was over, but their country was left devastated. In this fragile peacetime, Arbi stopped being a warlord and became a gangster, working outside the law, against the new Chechen government – until the Russian military re-invaded and made him public enemy number one. After years of evading capture, Arbi was finally killed in June of last year.

His nephew, Movsar took over his gang at just the age of 23. Angered by his uncle’s death, the young and untested Movsar has something to prove. He wants to capture the attention of not just Russia, but the whole world.

So, earlier tonight, it was Movsar Barayev who first walked on stage brandishing a machine gun as the audience watched in stunned horror. Also present is Zura Barayeva, Movsar’s aunt and Arbi’s widow. They and 38 other terrorists are holding 800 people captive until Russian military forces retreat out of Chechnya. They hope if enough ordinary Russian people will care about their hostages, they’ll pressure their government to end the war.

But authorities refused to negotiate. By 10:30 PM, the Dubrovka Theater is surrounded by Russian police. Nearby buildings have been evacuated in case a bomb goes off. But there have been no talks between the police and terrorists.

Movsar decides to take pity on some of the hostages. He takes the stage and addresses the terrified crowd, saying children under 12 will be released, and instructs them to come to the front.

Unfortunately for Sandy Booker and Svetlana Gubareva, Sasha is a year too old to leave. But dozens of other kids make their way to the front of the theater, nervously lining up, crying and terrified. Some of the younger children struggle to leave their families’ side, making their separation all the more painful. The parents kiss and hug their children goodbye, then they have to push them away.

As these young ones are marched out by the terrorists, a deep unease settles over the theater. No one is certain of the fate that will befall these children. Everyone knows the Moscow police will have sharpshooters pointing high-powered sniper rifles at the theater doors. They’ll be expecting to see terrorists emerge - not children. If a police officer sees movement and fires, it could be a tragedy.

Time crawls by as the parents wait, hoping not to hear the sound of gunfire. And when their captors return moments later, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The children have been released without incident. It’s a moment of rare humanity for Movsar Barayev and his gang of terrorists. But a few hours later, there’s a new development that undermines any goodwill Movsar just achieved.

Around 1:30 AM, a young woman manages to somehow sneak around the police barricade and bursts into the theater. She’s not one of the hostages, just an ordinary 26-year-old Moscow resident. But she heard about the hostage crisis on the news, and after a few drinks decided to come down to the theater herself, to talk some sense into the terrorists.

Unimpressed, Movsar will order her to be taken into a back room, where she’ll be shot and killed. With her death, the hostages will see just how serious their situation is. By this time they’ve already been held against their will for over four hours, and have no idea how much longer they’ll be trapped.

Act Two

It’s October 24th, 2002 in the Dubrovka Theater.

The hostages have been held for almost 24 hours. All they’ve had to eat are snacks from the concession stand. To pass the time, a husband and wife use a spare pen and scraps of paper to painstakingly create a homemade deck of cards. But the cards are too flimsy, and their hands are shaking from a mixture of adrenaline and exhaustion.

They are constantly watched by armed terrorists. The only reprieve from this surveillance comes during select bathroom breaks, and even these are torcher. In the main section of the theater, the hostages aren’t allowed to use the bathrooms in the lobby - they’re too close to the exit. Everyone there has to relieve themselves in the orchestra pit. But in the balcony, hostages can use the upstairs bathrooms, as long as they’re accompanied by a terrorist.

A day into their captivity, two young women hatch a plot to take advantage of this. They’ve noticed when a male terrorist takes them to the bathroom, he waits outside. But inside the room, there’s a sliding window big enough for someone to fit through. It's three stories up, but just below the window is a concrete canopy over the theater's backdoor. Jumping would be risky. If they’re caught trying to escape, they no doubt will be shot. And if they miss their jump, they could fall to their deaths. But with the situation looking more dire by the hour, these two girls decide to take their chances - and try to jump three stories down to freedom.

Enacting their plan they tell a terrorist they have to use the bathroom. He leads them down the hall, a machine gun slung over his shoulder. While he waits, the girls push open the door and head inside. Then as silently as possible, they open the window just wide enough to get through.

Outside the theater, two police officers watch as the girls jump out of the window and onto the concrete canopy. The officers run to help the girls down, but the noise alerts the terrorist guarding the bathroom door. When he barges in to find the girls gone and the window open, he fires his machine gun down at the fleeing hostages but misses. The girls, whose identities have been protected ever since make it to the safety of the police barricades.

Beyond those barricades, family members of the hostages have flocked to the neighborhood. Along with other anti-war demonstrators, they are protesting to end the war in Chechnya, though not necessarily for ideological reasons. The terrorists told the hostages to call their families and ask them to put on a large demonstration in Moscow’s famous Red Square. In response to this, President Vladimir Putin orders the square to be closed. But still, the demonstrators get as close as they can and protest peacefully. One of them holds up a sign reading, “What would you do, Mr. Putin, if your daughter was inside?”

At this point, Putin has been president of Russia for only two years, but this is not his first experience with terrorism. In 1999, when Putin was prime minister, over 300 Russians were killed in a series of bombings on apartment buildings. Although the attacks were never linked to Chechen terrorists, Putin nevertheless called for airstrikes on Chechnya. This show of strength made Putin popular with the Russian public, helping him climb the ladder from prime minister to president the following year.

These actions also explain why the Russian government will never seriously negotiate with the terrorists inside the Dubrovka Theater. Negotiations are seen as weakness, and that’s the last thing Putin wants to project. So, he and the police simply sit and wait.

By the morning of October 25th, the situation inside the theater is deteriorating. The heat has been turned off and it’s getting cold. Making matters worse, a pipe bursts in the basement, causing flooding. There’s no easy way to fix it, and the terrorists are too suspicious of sabotage, worrying that Russian police will send in spies disguised as repairmen.

So as the terrorists and hostages are forced to endure cold and dank conditions, things slip further out of control. One hostage tries to attack a terrorist with a glass juice bottle. He’s shot and killed, but in the confusion, two other hostages are shot, one of whom eventually dies.

Movsar Barayev makes a speech to try to calm everyone down. But he’s clearly upset, ranting, and rambling. He tells the hostages that everything is going according to plan, he won’t kill them and will keep them safe, even if Russian Special Forces storm the building.

Movsar seems desperate for the hostages to look at him as their protector, their helper, and friend, but the hostages are unconvinced. It’s clear Movsar hasn’t eaten or slept enough in the past 36 hours, and his awkward performance comforts no one.

Fortunately, the hostages’ time in the Dubrovka Theater is almost up. Russian Special Forces will raid the building in a matter of hours. But their rescue won’t go smoothly. They will employ a controversial method never before used in a hostage situation - and the results will be deadly.

Act Three

It’s 5 AM, on October 26th, 2002, and the Dubrovka Theater is quiet.

Some of the hostages have fallen asleep for the first time since the crisis started. Others, including the terrorists, are beginning to feel sleepy, almost woozy. There’s a strange odor in the air, and a white cloud forming at the ceiling.

Panic quickly spreads among those still awake as they put the pieces together and realize that the police are flooding the theater with gas. The napping hostages aren’t just asleep - they’ve been knocked unconscious. Anyone still awake makes a mad rush for the exit. Some of them escape. Others pass out before they can get to the doors.

The terrorists have little power to stop the fleeing hostages because most of them have been incapacitated as well, though a few have gas masks, and others breathe through wet bandanas. Still conscious enough, they shift their attention from the hostages to the police, readying themselves for the fight they know is imminent.

And sure enough, there’s an explosion as Russian Special Forces blast through the wall of an adjoining building. They’re met with machine gun fire by the terrorists. But the firefight doesn't last long. And by the end of it, Movsar Barayev and all the other terrorists are killed - either from gunfire or from the effects of the gas.

Fortunately, no hostages appear to have been killed in the firefight. But most of them are still lying unconscious. Help is slow to arrive because Russian Special Forces want to make sure none of the hostages are terrorists playing dead or strapped with explosives. The Russian Special Forces strip the unconscious bodies of their clothes to check for bombs. And then, instead of being put on stretchers and taken to ambulances by medical personnel, the hostages are roughly hauled out by soldiers and thrown into the backs of unmarked vans.

These vehicles take them to the nearest hospital, but doctors don’t know how to treat the hostages. The Special Forces have kept their gas such a secret that nobody knows what antidote to use. Experts now believe the gas to be derived from fentanyl, a dangerous sedative, but the exact contents are still a mystery to this day.

Of the over 800 people taken hostage, around 650 will be successfully rescued. But more than 150 will die, and not at the hands of the terrorists, but by the gas used by the Russian police.

Among the dead will be 49-year-old Sandy Booker, the only American present in the Dubrovka Theater. In a twist of fate, this was not his only run-in with terrorism. Sandy was in Oklahoma City when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, rushing to the scene there to help the injured. Sadly for his new love Svetlana, both Sandy and her daughter Sasha will succumb to the effects of the police’s gas.

Despite the deaths among hostages, the Russian public will approve of the strength shown by not negotiating with the terrorists. The Russian military will cancel plans to reduce troops in Chechnya, and instead start an even bigger military operation directed at hunting down and killing Chechen insurgents. Thereafter, Vladimir Putin’s approval rating will rise to 83%.

Eventually, Russia will win the war in Chechnya, re-claiming the region, but giving it special self-ruling privileges. It will become known as a country within a country. Terrorism and military responses to it will continue there for years – another chapter in the cycle of violence that forever altered the lives of 800 ordinary people when they were taken hostage at the Dubrovka Theater on October 23rd, 2002.

Outro

Next on History Daily. October 24th, 1929. Plummeting prices on the New York Stock Exchange herald the start of the Wall Street crash.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Katrina Zemrak.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Jack O’Brien.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.