DATE=3/22/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA ELECTION / BOMBINGS
NUMBER=5-45981
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Russia's presidential election campaign, now 
in its final days, has largely been a contest without 
issues.  V-O-A Moscow correspondent Peter Heinlein 
reports, however, that there is one troubling issue 
that refuses to go away.

TEXT:
            /// SFX of music, fade and hold under to 
///

Russia's independent television channel, N-T-V, is set 
to broadcast a program this Friday titled "Independent 
Investigations."  The segment examines allegations 
that the F-S-B, the main successor to the Soviet K-G-
B, covered up its role in an attempted apartment 
complex bombing last September.

The incident occurred in the city of Ryazan, southeast 
of Moscow, just days after four other apartment 
building bombs killed nearly 300 people.  This is how 
the N-T-V program begins.

            /// SFX of announcer, then fade to voice-
over ///

      Place:  Ryazan. Time:  September, 1999.  The 
      country is on the brink of declaring martial 
      law.  Terrorist bombings in Buinaksk, Moscow and 
      Volgodonsk.  Then, newspapers report another 
      sensation.  Another terrorist act planned in 
      Ryazan is miraculously prevented. Police are 
      congratulating themselves when the chief of the 
      F-S-B suddenly says the explosives in Ryazan 
      were placed there by his agents.

            /// fade under and out to ///

On a segment of the N-T-V program previewed by the 
Voice of America, F-S-B chief Nikolai Patrushev 
explains that the Ryazan incident was simply a routine 
preparedness drill that went wrong.

            /// Patrushev act in Russian, then fade to 
///

He says, "This was  not  a bomb.  The exercise may not 
have been carried out well, but it was only a test, 
and the so-called explosive was only sacks of sugar."

But Andrei Stolyarov, producer of the "Independent 
Investigations" program, says most people in Ryazan 
think the F-S-B is covering up the truth.

            /// Stolyarov act in Russian, then fade to 
///

Mr. Stolyarov says, "The majority of the people who 
are  not  professionals think that it was a real 
bomb."

Several independent experts agree.  Moscow's "Novaya 
Gazeta" newspaper interviewed the explosives 
specialist who tested the sacks of powder found in the 
Ryazan apartment building.  The tests indicated the 
material was Hexagen, the same explosive used in the 
earlier apartment blasts.  The F-S-B, however, 
disputes the accuracy of that test.

"Novaya Gazeta" investigative reporter Pavel Voloshin 
says the police officer who discovered the sacks of 
hexagen also confirmed that the detonating device was 
genuine.  Mr. Voloshin says he uncovered further 
disturbing evidence.

            /// Voloshin act in Russian, then fade to 
///

He says, he interviewed a soldier at a military base 
near Ryazan who said he had been assigned to guard 
sacks marked "sugar."  But he became suspicious, and 
took a sample to a military commander schooled in 
explosives who said it was definitely hexagen.

Coming just days before Sunday's elections, the 
allegations -- if proven -- could have a devastating 
effect on the campaign of Acting President Vladimir 
Putin.  Before being appointed prime minister last 
August, Mr. Putin was head of the F-S-B.

Several of Mr. Putin's opponents have tried to raise 
the issue.  Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said 
there was growing evidence the apartment bombings were 
staged to justify the military offensive in Chechnya, 
which in turn catapulted Mr. Putin to his position as 
Russia's most popular politician.

/// Opt ///  The Communists joined the Yabloko Party - 
led by another presidential contender, Grigory 
Yavlinsky - in backing a parliamentary resolution last 
week calling for an official investigation of the 
latest revelations.  But the resolution was narrowly 
defeated when Mr. Putin's supporters voted against. 
/// End Opt ///

In a clear sign of concern about the potential of a 
scandal just before election day, the state-run O-R-T 
television channel Wednesday accused independent media 
of dirty campaign tactics.

            /// ORT announcer act, then under to ///

The announcer says "N-T-V and Novaya Gazeta are 
preparing a provocation against the army and the F-S-
B."  The state-run station charged that N-T-V 
journalists were attempting to pressure Ryazan 
residents to take legal action against the secret 
police agency.

Novaya Gazeta reporter Voloshin says authorities have 
assured him that a further investigation will be held 
into the allegations contained in his articles.  He 
notes, however, that the probe will  not  begin until 
after the election, and will be carried out by the F-
S-B. (Signed)

NEB/PFH/GE/JP




22-Mar-2000 14:24 PM EDT (22-Mar-2000 1924 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.