ZAVODSKOI BLAST KILLS MORE THAN TWENTY. A

powerful blast ripped through a pro-Moscow police station in the Zavodskoi district of the Chechen capital on October 10. Some twenty-four persons were reported dead and about twenty wounded (NTVru.com, October 11). Gazeta.ru commented on October 11: “Separatists, seeking to punish their compatriots for collaborating with the pro-Moscow authorities, often target Chechnya’s policemen…. This time, however, the policemen who were lucky enough to survive Thursday’s explosion doubt that rebels are to blame. The police station in the Zavodskoi district is very well guarded…. Not long ago the Zavodskoi district department of the Interior Ministry conducted performance evaluations of its employees, resulting in many policemen being discharged from the service… The attack could have been perpetrated by a disgruntled former employee seeking revenge.”