Money Talks
REBEL: Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev pictured in October 1999
AFP PHOTO/STR
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002
"Hey, girl with the bomb, look at the camera!" a Chechen gunman-turned-cameraman shouted during last month's hostage crisis at Moscow's Dubrovka Theater. The Chechen was not making a documentary about the siege but, according to sources who know the Chechen insurgency intimately, putting together a fundraising video intended to be smuggled out of the theater and shown to foreign supporters. Instead, the film was captured by the Russians during their raid, in which at least 128 hostages and all the guerrillas died. The Moscow siege proved that the Chechens are not only appallingly determined but exceedingly media-savvy. Shamil Basayev, the rebel leader who claimed responsibility for last month's attack, has already signalled his intention to strike again.
Since the theater siege, Basayev has relinquished all military positions except one: commander of what he called in a statement issued last week the "reconnaissance and sabotage unit of martyrs, " a title that must send shivers down Russian security officers' spines. The next time Chechen suicide attackers come to Moscow, Basayev declared, they will make no demands and take no hostages. "Their main goal will be to destroy the enemy," he said. And if guerrillas do attack Russian cities again, they will probably fund the assault with money sent by enthusiastic foreign sympathizers, the intended audience for the theater siege video.
Fundraising is important to the Chechens because, given the demoralization, venality and low pay of even élite state security organizations, the guerrillas need only one thing to operate in Moscow: money. With that they can buy the papers they need to stay in the capital, hire local policemen to tip them off about impending raids, and even ship weapons and explosives from home. The theater attack probably cost no more than $100,000, according to the source close to the Chechens.
The power of money was illustrated, ironically, on the night the siege began. Three young Chechen men were stopped that night in the center of Moscow. They were about the same age as the guerrillas who had just seized the theater, and had no papers authorizing them to live in Moscow. But they had plenty of cash. A few minutes, $1,600 and a couple of "presents" later — the Chechens also handed over a couple of cell phones — the men were on their way. "The only Chechens who have problems [in Moscow] are the ones who are too honest or too poor to pay bribes," says one Chechen who lives illegally in the capital. Other sources say guerrilla units are in Moscow almost all the time — reconnoitring targets, browsing for weapons, or just resting.
The weapons and explosives used in the theater siege were brought from Chechnya, delivered in trucks fitted with false sides and bottoms. There is an established network of truckers based in the republics surrounding Chechnya who are specialized in weapons smuggling. The cost per truck is about $5,000. The trickiest part of delivering weapons and explosives is unloading them on arrival in Moscow and ferrying them to safe flats. For that, the Chechens would have needed to hire for about $1,000 a policeman or an officer of state security as a cover. This is not difficult, the sources say, particularly if the guerrillas were passing themselves off as members of an organized crime group. Russian press reports since the siege claim that at least one police officer in the team surrounding the theater was providing information by cell phone to the hostage-takers inside.
The guerrillas came separately to Moscow, but spent up to two months in the city before the attack. Police regularly check people on the street — particularly from the Caucasus — to see if they have residence permits for the city. But about $10 is more than enough to bribe a policeman to look the other way. If the guerrillas had wanted to formalize their presence, they could buy papers. A full set of documents — a Russian passport, driver's license and a separate international passport — costs $2,500 and takes 4 to 5 days to acquire.
Not even moving through the city on the night of the raid would have presented any great problems, insurgency specialists say. Some of the raiders were dressed in camouflage uniforms that were probably bought in Moscow. Several would have had police or security service identification, which can be had for about $300. That and a bit of bluster would have got them by any of the capital's traffic police. No one did stop them though, and the ease with which armed and fanatically determined gunmen could live and move in Moscow leaves many here apprehensive about the future.
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