Domodedovo Airport terror blast coverage

[mendeleyev]

More photos and RT videos are available at the Mendeleyev Journal.




The Mendeleyev Journal has obtained the names of the 34 who have so far died from this tragedy but will wait for clearance before publication. 71 persons are in local hospitals, also identified.

It was just March of last year that passenger voting results named Moscow Domodedovo Airport the best airport of Eastern Europe with voters representing business travelers from over 100 countries. Domodedovo Airport is the largest airport of Russia. Its market share in total passenger traffic in Moscow makes 46%. At the moment 75 partner airlines (35 foreign, 29 Russian and 11 from the CIS) connecting over 220 destinations operate flights all over the world.

Московский аэропорт Домодедово уточняет телефоны горячей линии (Moscow Domodedovo Airport hotlines):

8(495)644-40-66 (General and emergency information)

8(499)251-14-55 (данные о госпитализированных/data on those hospitalized.)

8(495)626-37-07, 8(495)637-22-22 (МЧС/Recorded updated messages on the situation.)

На стойке информации аэропорта Домодедово можно узнать информацию о пострадавших, прошедших через медпункт аэропорта. (At the information desk at Domodedovo airport you can find out information about the victims, passing through the airport clinic.)

Аэропорт работает в штатном режиме. (The airport is operating normally.)



As instructed by the President, the Healthcare and Social Development Ministry and the Emergencies Ministry are providing urgent medical assistance to the persons injured by the terrorist explosion.

From his Presidential office at Gorki, President Medvedev instructed Chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin to appoint a team of investigators to lead the investigation into the terrorist attack.To ensure transport safety, President Medvedev instructed the Transport Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Security Service to jointly effect a nationwide emergency regime at airports, air terminals and all major transport hubs.

If you are traveling to Moscow in the next few days, check Domodedovo's arrivals and departures to see the status of flights. The list currently shows some cancellations, delays and changed gates for arrivals, but overall the airport appears to be handling flights well despite the tragedy. Also, Moscow-bound travelers should monitor the situation closely and call their airline or check the airline website for up-to-date information.

[mendeleyev]

More photos and RT videos are available at the Mendeleyev Journal.




The Mendeleyev Journal has obtained the names of the 34 who have so far died from this tragedy but will wait for clearance before publication. 71 persons are in local hospitals, also identified.

It was just March of last year that passenger voting results named Moscow Domodedovo Airport the best airport of Eastern Europe with voters representing business travelers from over 100 countries. Domodedovo Airport is the largest airport of Russia. Its market share in total passenger traffic in Moscow makes 46%. At the moment 75 partner airlines (35 foreign, 29 Russian and 11 from the CIS) connecting over 220 destinations operate flights all over the world.

Московский аэропорт Домодедово уточняет телефоны горячей линии (Moscow Domodedovo Airport hotlines):

8(495)644-40-66 (General and emergency information)

8(499)251-14-55 (данные о госпитализированных/data on those hospitalized.)

8(495)626-37-07, 8(495)637-22-22 (МЧС/Recorded updated messages on the situation.)

На стойке информации аэропорта Домодедово можно узнать информацию о пострадавших, прошедших через медпункт аэропорта. (At the information desk at Domodedovo airport you can find out information about the victims, passing through the airport clinic.)

Аэропорт работает в штатном режиме. (The airport is operating normally.)



As instructed by the President, the Healthcare and Social Development Ministry and the Emergencies Ministry are providing urgent medical assistance to the persons injured by the terrorist explosion.

From his Presidential office at Gorki, President Medvedev instructed Chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin to appoint a team of investigators to lead the investigation into the terrorist attack.To ensure transport safety, President Medvedev instructed the Transport Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Security Service to jointly effect a nationwide emergency regime at airports, air terminals and all major transport hubs.

If you are traveling to Moscow in the next few days, check Domodedovo's arrivals and departures to see the status of flights. The list currently shows some cancellations, delays and changed gates for arrivals, but overall the airport appears to be handling flights well despite the tragedy. Also, Moscow-bound travelers should monitor the situation closely and call their airline or check the airline website for up-to-date information.




(photo: The Mendeleyev Journal/Presidential Press Service)

[mendeleyev]

Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev lashed out at what he called "anarchic" security lapses that allowed a suicide bomber to enter Russia's busiest airport. Russian investigators are probing links to the restive Caucasus in order to solve the terror that ended the lives of at least 35 in Moscow.

"Terrorism remains the main security threat to our state -- the main threat to Russia and all of our cities," Medvedev told a meeting of the security services after observing a moment of silence where he choked back tears.

On national television, the President lashed out at officials of Domodedovo airport over how a terror bomber was allowed to wander into arrivals and set off a bomb just as passengers from several international flights were arriving.

"The evidence from the scene of the crime tells us that pure anarchy reigned," said Medvedev. "People were allowed to walk in from anywhere. The entrance restrictions were partial at best."

The President of the United States called Mr Medvedev and expressed solidarity with the people of the Russian Federation following the tragic terrorist attack at Domodedovo Airport, as well as deep condolences regarding the deaths of innocent individuals. He wished all the people injured by this inhumane terrorist act a speedy recovery. Barack Obama announced his readiness to offer all necessary assistance to ensure that those responsible for this atrocity are justly punished.

The President of Russia expressed his gratitude for the sympathy and support and emphasised the particular significance of the broad solidarity shown by the international community during such difficult times.

The conversation was initiated by the US side.


(Photos of President Medvedev at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine from the Mendeleyev Journal / Presidential Press Service.)

[mendeleyev]

As reported in the Mendeleyev Journal, the Domodedovo bombing has triggered changes in the Russian security ranks.

With cameras rolling at the Presidential residence in Gorki, the President told Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev to “Shake up the entire transportation police. If those people don't understand how to work, we will find other people.”

Fired early Wednesday by President Medvedev:
- Andrei Alexeyev, head of the Interior Ministry’s transportation branch in the Central Federal District. It is the transportation police that are responsible for security in the public areas of airports, as well as train and bus stations, and Metro lines.
Alexeyev is somewhat of a state hero from an incident in 1996 when he traded himself for a hostage held at an Omsk theater during a terror attack in Omsk.

Fired by Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev:
- Domodedovo Airport’s police chief and two of his deputies.


(Presidential Residence at Gorki, Security meeting. photo: The Mendeleyev Journal/Presidential Press Service.)

[mendeleyev]

Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev lit a candle at the Church of Saint Tikhon in the memory of those killed in Moscow Domodedovo airport blast. The Church of Saint Tikhon is located in a small town outside Moscow. The President is a devout Orthodox believer.

Tikhon was the Russian-American Archbishop of the Orthodox Church who was responsible for establishing the Orthodox faith in the USA and Canada. Under his direction the Bishop's Cathedral was expanded in his home of San Francisco and a new national Orthodox Cathedral was built in New York.

Just 7 years before his death he was transferred to Russia where he would become the Patriarch of All Russia after 217 years of no enthroned Patriarch in Russia. He was murdered by the Communists soon after the revolution.

At least 35 people were killed in an explosion that hit Moscow Domodedovo aiport on January 24, 2011.

(photos: Mendeleyev Journal/Presidential Press Service)

[chivo]

Mendy,

There's a theory moving around on underground internet sites here in Russia that this wasn't an attack brought on by Islamic extremists even though one might be blamed for it, but by one the two separate factions that control the airport looking to get control from the other.

The fact that no one has come forward to claim responsibility yet is starting to make me wonder if there isn't some truth to this. I usually leave these types of theories to the Oliver Stone's of the world. 

There have been more than a few people whom I have talked to that think it's true BTW. I have yet to read anything along these lines in any of the every day newpapers here. Time will tell

[SANDRO43]

There's a theory moving around on underground internet sites here in Russia that this wasn't an attack brought on by Islamic extremists even though one might be blamed for it, but by one the two separate factions that control the airport looking to get control from the other.

How would the mob convince someone to blow himself up for commercial reasons ? A racket jihad ?

[mendeleyev]

Mendy,

There's a theory moving around on underground internet sites here in Russia that this wasn't an attack brought on by Islamic extremists even though one might be blamed for it, but by one the two separate factions that control the airport looking to get control from the other.

The fact that no one has come forward to claim responsibility yet is starting to make me wonder if there isn't some truth to this. I usually leave these types of theories to the Oliver Stone's of the world. 

There have been more than a few people whom I have talked to that think it's true BTW. I have yet to read anything along these lines in any of the every day newpapers here. Time will tell

Chivo, as you know there was initial speculation that this was yet another attack originating from the Chechens or some other group from the Northern Caucasus mountains region. And as you point out this time no one has claimed responsibility.

Most of the Chechen and/or Caucasus related bombings follow, or do a good job trying to follow, Islamic teaching on suicide bombing. A Muslim suicide bomber "sins" if he allows his body to be handled by infidels after death.

Russian investigators believe it somehow significant that this couple (captured on a security video) left large chunks of their body parts at the scene. They feel that responsibility may point to different groups. In fact, the head of the man was found almost intact. At least at this point investigators aren't yet sure of the ethnic background, and an intact head is a good indicator of certain features, in identifying their man.

Well, at least if they are sure, they aren't yet saying.

[mendeleyev]

Members of the Western media remain under a gag request regarding the names of those killed. Typical Russian response as it's all over LiveJournal and other Russian language sources.

However the okay has been given to publish the names of those hospitalized. 74 remain in hospitals around Moscow and that is a long list to post, so I won't. But if you have a specific name request of someone you can't reach and have reason to be worried about, send me a PM. If possible, have the Cyrillic spelling available cause it's a long list, but if not I'll translate the name. To help with identification I have the names, year of birth, city or residence (or country) and Moscow hospital where they're being treated.

So far, other than persons from Russia and the former republics, the only foreigner listed still hospitalized and in critical condition is a female passenger from Germany.

[mendeleyev]

35 deaths so far and several of the hospitalized remain in very critical status.

Deaths by citizenship:
Russian     27
Ukrainian    1
Uzbek        2
Tajik          2
Austrian     1
German      1
UK/British   1

[mendeleyev]

Already the questions of "why" are being discussed by everyday citizens. For most it is difficult to fathom anything but another attack from the Islamic republics, especially those in the North Caucasus regions.

Shura Burtin writes on the issue of “anonymous bombs” for the Russkiy Reporter news magazine:

I had already expressed this seditious idea - that it's necessary to negotiate with rebel fighters. The answer was ”No”. I feel that this is a completely irresponsible type of morality, and people who talk this way couldn't care less about those who were killed and their families. Moreover, it's nothing but a substitution of notions, because the original meaning of this principle is that the terrorists' demands shouldn't be met - in order not to encourage new acts of terror. But the problem here is that it's been a long time since suicide bombers from the Caucasus demanded anything from us.

We should realize that a civil war has been going on for many years in our country, in the North Caucasus - almost like in Afghanistan or Iraq. And it's not a metaphor. According to the data from open sources, 1,710 people were killed and wounded in armed confrontations in 2010. And these figures have been deliberately understated.

(Mendeleyev note: The Caucasian War of 1817–1864, also known as the Russian conquest of the Caucasus has continued to simmer for almost 200 years.)

Burtin continues...
The Russian society has to decide what we want: war or peace. If we want peace, then the process of making peace has to begin. And there's only one way to make peace - which is to start making peace. 

The state has to stop thinking in the “us vs them” terms, it has to recognize this conflict as social insanity that has to be treated. It's important to understand that all parties in this war are Russian citizens. The reason for this war isn't the mythical international terrorism, but our own domestic conflict. This is a tragedy, a mistake, a result of the lack of dialogue and mutual understanding between segments of our society. All parties in this conflict have their own truth - and the task is to help them reach a consensus.

(emphasis added)

[mendeleyev]

Whether or not the blame will be laid at the doorstep, yet again, of the various conquered people groups who populate the vast Russian North Caucasus regions, already the first reaction was to point in their direction.

There are Russians however who are not quick to pinpoint blame.

Olga Allenova is a very brave and special lady, a special correspondent for the Kommersant Daily, author of Chechnya is Close: War Through the Eyes of a Woman (RUS), a collection of the 1999-2007 war reports from Russia's North Caucasus region. Olga returned from a trip to Dagestan on Jan. 21, just a few days before the airport blast and penned these thoughts:

I'm back from Dagestan, feeling as if I was at a war - but didn't get to see the war itself. I saw people who had someone [from the family] killed. Saw machine guns in the hands of plainclothes special forces officers. I was shocked by a story told by my good acquaintance Timur: his friend Magomed's brother, a riot police officer, had been killed, and on the day his brother's body was brought home, Timur's neighbors were also awaiting a body - of the man who had killed Magomed's brother. Timur says he feels that the ring keeps narrowing, and the war is now right outside his house.

But if you are driving around the republic, everything looks quiet. People are selling things at the market, go shopping, get married, have children. Perhaps, this is the meanest type of war, when you don't see the actual threat.

What shocked me most was that people remained human even in such conditions. Hospitable, polite, well-mannered - most of the people I met were like this. Even those not very educated - village police officers, for example - but they were still very friendly.

I asked one - “How do you live here, why aren't you leaving?” (he does have a place to go). He replied: “Sooner or later we'll all die, and it's better [to die] at home while trying to do something [good], rather than somewhere far away, like a vegetable.”

There is something to learn from the Dagestanis.

[AllenX]

Sad to hear that news. Terrorists had advantage to attacked the place while people there are busy on minding their businesses. The baggage claim area of Russia's Domodedovo Airport terminal has been attacked. 31 people are dead and 20 are very critically injured. Almost another 100 are injured. The busiest international airport in Russia, Domodedovo Airport sees hundreds of flights a day. Thousands were in the airport terminal at the time of the explosion.

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal has a memorial to the 35 who died as a result of the Domodedovo explosion, plus a video report from Russia Today televison that names one of the primary suspects.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

It just seemed right. He was the only man who fit this task perfectly given his history and personal link to the Russian people.

Russians respect him and when he arrived at Domodedovo Airport to lay flowers at the memorial for the victims of Monday's terror attack, Russian onlookers quietly and reverently moved aside and silently watched, many with tears in their eyes as United States Ambassador John Beyrle respectfully moved toward the memorial.

Unlike any other single American, John Beyrle, Ambassador to Russia has a special link to the Russian people and the admiration they hold for him is obvious. Ambassador Beyrle is highly regarded because his father was the only known American to have served in both the American and Soviet armies when the two countries were allies in the war against Nazi aggression.

Shot down by German anti-aircraft fire, the senior Beyrle quickly learned Russian, donned a Soviet army uniform and continued fighting until the end of the war when he was decorated by both countries for his service. Russians respect that kind of history and because of his father's bravery the Ambassador is accepted as a brother.

After laying flowers at the site, Ambassador Beyrle said that though some Western media have been saying that Russians seem to be cold-hearted and rigid in the aftermath of the tragedy, he believes that they are doing just the right thing. ­These flowers are just my expression on behalf of the American people of our solidarity with the Russian people today, the day of national mourning. We are grieving together with the families who lost their loved ones and are expressing our solidarity with the Russian people and the Russian government that there can be no refuge for monsters who are capable of carrying out an attack like this against us.

He also said that the best way to fight terrorism is to show that life goes on and to continue living.

[chivo]

How would the mob convince someone to blow himself up for commercial reasons ?

Lies . It's my understanding that people who run or control places like an airport and such are high ranking ex-KGB guys. To survive in that world you have to be, well lets just say ruthless is a compliment to them, and an understatement.

Not saying I believe that they're behind the attack, but can't say I'm ruling it out 100%. Just one of those things only a few truly have the answer to, with the actual bomber not being one of them.

A racket jihad ?

You do have to change with the times.

[wicheese]

Lies . It's my understanding that people who run or control places like an airport and such are high ranking ex-KGB guys. To survive in that world you have to be, well lets just say ruthless is a compliment to them, and an understatement.

Here I thought they were all in the government! 

[chivo]

One and the same. Banks (Sberbank), Gazprom, etc. are state controlled. Putin and his "boys' control many things.

[mendeleyev]

Domodedovo news update from the Mendeleyev Journal:

* Russia announced that it would adopt a colour-coded security alert system similar to the one used by the United States after the New York trade centre terror attacks known commonly in the US as "9/11." It was just one day earlier that the US Attorney General had indicated that the colour-coded levels would be dropped in favour of a new system.


* Russian security sources say that DNA analysis may have ruled out their prime suspect in the Domodedovo Airport bombing. Earlier investigators were seeking an ethnic Russian, 32 year old Vitaly Razdobudko and his wife as persons of significant interest.

Investigators had indicated Razdobudko as an ethnic Russian Orthodox Christian who converted to Islam as being a suspect in Monday's deadly suicide bombing at Domodedovo. Razdobudko and his wife have been missing since October last year according to Stavropol police. Family members say that he was an Orthodox Christian who converted to Islam.

[mendeleyev]

Update from the Mendeleyev Journal:

The Investigative Committee is concentrating on a new suspect, an approximately 20 year old man from the North Caucasus region (southern Russia) bordering Azerbaijan and Chechnya. Most of the terror activity in that region is in and around Dagestan, an ethnic community of groups speaking Caucasia, Turkic or Iranian.

Just 4% of the population is ethnic Russian and that Russian is the official language has been a cause of friction in this region. Russia took possession of the territory from Turkey in 1813.

Last year's Moscow Metro bombing by 2 female terrorists were from this region. Officials are trying to determine if the suspect has ties to the militant Islamic organization Shariat Jamaat which has claimed responsibility for much of the violence in the region, or if there are ties to some other nationalist type movement.

[SANDRO43]

...Dagestan, an ethnic community of groups speaking Caucasia, Turkic or Iranian.

I had never heard of a language called Caucasia before, so I looked up Dagestan in Wikipedia and found that you adapted incorrectly a sentence from there:

Dagestan has great ethnic diversity, with several dozen ethnic groups and subgroups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagestan

Caucasian, Turkic, Iranian in the above quote are adjectives referring to families of languages rather than individual languages, as when one refers to Germanic or Latin languages .

[mendeleyev]

Quite correct and I should have listed several individually, however it could be quite a list. Most folks would know I hope, that Farsi is the most common language of Iran, and not the name of the Iranian language family.

To be spot on correct we should point out that the Iranian language family is actually a sub-group belonging to the Indo-European language family from which we get related languages such as English, Russian, German, Spanish and Italian, etc.

Of those 3 families mentioned, due to the ancient tribal nature of the area a whole group are spoken in the North Caucasus region including Georgian, Ingush, Chechen, etc. For example, over thirty local languages are commonly spoken in the Republic of Dagestan alone.

Some might question why Russian is the official language if only 4% of the population are ethnic Russian, but there needs to be a common unifying language, Russian or another, for the purposes of commerce, education and other functions of a civilized society.

[Anotherkiwi]

...Some might question why Russian is the official language if only 4% of the population are ethnic Russian, but there needs to be a common unifying language, Russian or another, for the purposes of commerce, education and other functions of a civilized society.

There you have it - I don't think that any civilised society goes around blowing up things or people (and no, I'm not prejudging who might be responsible for the DME bombing).  There seems to be so much grief and sadness in that part of Russia that it surprises me that more people haven't fled to safer areas.  So much of the resentment seems to be directed at the Russian overlords that perhaps it may have been more prudent to pick another language as the official one for the area - do any of the local languages (e.g. Chechen) have a greater base than 4% of the population?

[mendeleyev]

So much of the resentment seems to be directed at the Russian overlords that perhaps it may have been more prudent to pick another language as the official one for the area - do any of the local languages (e.g. Chechen) have a greater base than 4% of the population?

Perhaps not surprising in that the region was conquered after fierce war lasting many years. To be sure most of the population speaks Russian, most however view it as a language by decree rather than by choice.

Another problem exists in that so many languages are spoken...over 30 in just the one republic mentioned. Which would you pick and quickly there would be fighting over why one local language was more valid than the other. Plus this is a region of economic significance with great natural resources. It needs a common trade language that is more widely used than just in a limited geographical spot and Russian does fit that role.

[mendeleyev]

What a zoo! Returned from almost a week in the Phillipines on assignment to cap off a week in which:

- President Medvedev publically gave PM Putin a tongue thrashing, calling it immature to say a crime had been solved when evidence was still being collected and the investigation ongoing. That is twice in 2 months that he has publically singled out Mr Putin over comments made prematurely on legal cases.

- Often the two men sit each at the end of a long table when meeting with other ministers. This week Mr Medvedev placed Mr Putin at his right hand side alongside other ministers, and more importantly not at the end as a "co chair" honour in the meeting in which Mr Medvedev met with cabinet ministers on the newly signed law restructuring police and military services in the Federation. It's not often to see Vladimir Putin subdued. That is temporary, one can be sure.

- Just a day after briefing President Medvedev, Russian Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin reportedly met with State Duma leaders at a meeting behind closed doors Tuesday and according to senior lawmaker Gennady Gudkov told the leadership that the Domodedovo attack had been “solved.”

Sources covering the bombing investigation have speculated that Magomed Yevloyev, a 20 year old Ingushetia native, was the suicide bomber who carried out the blast last month.  Duma leaders however said that the Domodedovo attack was masterminded by an independent terrorist cell, perhaps as small as 5 to 7 members who were acting as autonomous but with ideological links to other groups.

So of course it was somewhat of a surprise when Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for the Domodedovo Airport bombing.  In a video at an insurgent news website, www.kavkazcenter.com, Umarov called the bombing a special operation carried out on his orders.

You should go to that website. Very scary stuff and Russia has a lot to be worried about from it's internal Muslim radicals.

Details in the Mendeleyev Journal today.