On October 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official representative in Georgia, Aleksandr Yakovenko, complained to reporters that Georgia had not submitted to Russia a list of Chechen refugees who wanted to return to their homes in Chechnya. "Russia is doing its best to assist repatriation... MORE

: * Storming the theater* Questions on the gas* Officials protest* What actually happened?* Doctors attest to cause of death* A chronology* Eyewitness account* Putin addresses nation* Whose decision?* Washington weighs in* Russians weigh in NEWS

Early on the morning of October 26, Russian special forces--employing some form of poisoned gas--stormed the Theater Center at Dubrovka in Moscow, killing a reported fifty Chechen Wahhabi terrorists, including their leader, field commander Movsar Baraev, and, according to the most recent reports by the... MORE

As it became clear that a large number of the hostages had perished in the attack, questions began to be raised both in Russia and the West about what was in the poisoned gas the special forces had used. "Almost all the hostages died from... MORE

Russian security officials, on the other hand, strongly defended their use of the yet unidentified "special gas." The gas, Deputy MVD Minister Vladimir Vasil'ev emphasized, "allowed us to neutralize the terrorists who were holding their fingers on the triggers of the bombs" (New York Times,... MORE

But was that the way it actually occurred? Writing in the October 26 issue of the website APN.ru, journalist Lev Segal observed: "Judging from everything, the 'martyrs' belts' filled with plastic explosives, were mainly worn by the women-terrorists, who were sitting in the hall. A... MORE

While Russian medical personnel attending the poisoned hostages had been ordered by Russian security and law enforcement officials not to talk to the press, at least one medical professional, Ol'ga Karpova, a senior doctor with the Department of Operational Response of the Moscow Rescue Service,... MORE

Much remained unclear about the assault itself and, especially, about what had happened within the theater early on the morning of October 26. According to the October 26 issue of the website Newsru.com, at 3:30 AM, an explosion took place inside the building, followed by... MORE

On October 27, Ekho Moskvy radio broadcast the moving tape of a conversation that had taken place between a hostage using a cellphone, Anna Andrianova, and a friend located outside the building, A. Stepanenko, at 5:30 a.m., on October 26, at apparently the very moment... MORE

Following the assault on the theater, President Putin made a televised address to the nation in which he commenced by saying: "Dear compatriots! During these days, we have together endured a terrible trial. All of our thoughts have concerned those people who found themselves in... MORE