[CNN]
“The Russian Emergency Ministry confirms that three sacks of sugar mixed with explosives were found in the basement of an apartment building in the city of Ryazan Wednesday night.”
“A resident of the 12-story building noticed two men unloading sacks into the basement of the building and immediately notified police. They arrived and discovered the explosives. The building was evacuated and the material removed safely from the building.”
“Three deadly explosions in apartment buildings in Russia which were considered terrorist acts have been linked to a similar explosive substance disguised as sugar. […] About 300 people have been killed in” these attacks in Moscow, Buynaksk and Volgodonsk.
“Authorities have said they suspect involvement by terrorists who support Islamic guerrillas who are fighting Russia in the southern province of Dagestan.”
“As part of the security measures following the explosions, 15,500 immigrants have been refused permission to remain in Moscow.”
“Police stopped people on subways and in markets, looking for clues, and thousands of people were detained in security sweeps. Meanwhile, neighborhood residents formed security patrols.”
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The “bomb scare that led to the frantic nighttime evacuation of an apartment in [Ryazan] was only a security exercise to test anti-terrorism forces and the vigilance of citizens, Russia’s security chief said Friday.”
“Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the FSB internal security agency, told NTV television three sacks of suspected explosives with a timing device found in an apartment block in Ryazan were planted.”
“”It was not an explosion somebody foiled; it was a security training exercise. The sacks contained only sugar, there were no explosives inside,” he said.”
“Patrushev said similar devices had been planted in other cities, but hinted that residents and officials there had proved less vigilant than in Ryazan.”
“”Such exercises were not only carried out in Ryazan, and I should single out the people of Ryazan and its forces of law and order for having reacted as they did,” he said.”
What happened
“A resident late Wednesday night noticed two men carrying what looked like sugar sacks into the basement of the 12-story apartment in Ryazan, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Moscow. He alerted police, who found three sugar sacks in the basement with a timer and detonators.”
“The sacks were filled with small crystals that resembled cyclonite, the powerful sugar-like explosive which destroyed several apartment blocks across Russia over the last month, killing up to 300 people.”
“Police evacuated the building and residents spent the night in a local cinema.”
“Television showed pictures of shocked and frightened people afraid to return to their flats even after the sacks had been removed from the building.”
“Despite the uproar, Patrushev defended the drill. “I believe that the exercise should be similar to what happens in real life, because otherwise we won’t find anything or won’t be reacting to what happens anywhere,” he told NTV.”
Read more: Explosives found in Ryazan, Russia apartment complex and Russian bomb scare turns out to be anti-terror drill
Related: Moscow on edge over explosions, 17 Dead, 115 Injured in Another Russian Blast and Blowing up Russia (video)
2021-week36
