The Terror Attack That Shook Russia - Moscow Theatre Hostages Share Stories of Siege (2002)

On 26 October 2002, Russian special forces stormed the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in a bid to end the hostage crisis that had begun three days earlier, when Chechen Islamist separatists armed with assault rifles and explosives seized the building and took 912 theatre-goers hostage. In an attempt to break the siege, special forces filled the theatre with a sleeping gas before storming the auditorium. While the assault would result in the killing of all 40 hostage takers and the freeing of over 700 hostages, the side effects of the poison gas would kill 132 hostages in the immediate aftermath of the operation. In the following days, ITN’s Sarah Smith captured the Russian capital in mourning, interviewing survivors Andrei Naumov and Mark Podlesny about their experience of the siege and, as the consequences of the Spetsnaz assault plan became clear in the rising civilian death toll, their feelings about the use of gas. #Russia #Moscow #Siege #Terrorism #Terror #Terrorists #Chechnya 00:00 Introduction 01:03 Dawn at the Dubrovka Theatre - Casualties Leave as Relatives Arrive 07:56 Interview with Actor and Survivor Mark Podlesny 17:13 Interview with Survivor Andrei Naumov 19:48 Military and Mourners Outside the Dubrovka Theatre 22:18 Kremlin Flies Flag at Half Mast To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below: To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) - @ITNArchive 🎥 Follow us on Twitter - 🎥 Like us on Facebook - 🎥 Check out our TikTok - @itnarchive1955