Statement in support of Andrew Mogilyansky

On October 23, 2002 I, Svetlana Gubareva, together with my 13-year-old daughter Sasha Letyago and my fiancee, US citizen Sandy Allan Booker, went to see the "Nord-Ost" show at the Dubrovka theater in Moscow. We became hostages in the terrorist act that followed. Sitting in the theater captured by terrorists, we were hoping to survive this ordeal. Unfortunately, the prestige and politics of the Russian government were more important. The building was stormed, as a result of which 125 people died, including Sasha and Sandy.

The most difficult task was to carry on living when all my dreams, plans, future - were destroyed, the meaning of existence itself, demolished. I would not have been able to survive without the help of people who decided to support me. One of such people was Andrew Mogilyansky, who organized a foundation to help the former hostages and victim famliies. I first heard about him from my American friends Glenn and Victoria Hagele, who were among the first to find me in Moscow and offer their support. Glenn gave me Andrew's contact information and suggested I reach out to him.

Why am I writing this? Because of the continued persecution of Andrew, originally organized by Russian security services in 2003-2004, and aimed at destroying Andrew's life and his family.

I have not once doubted Andrew's honor and innosence, and am certain that the "proof" of his purported participation in immoral events, described by Russian media, were fabricated.

My certainty is based on the fact that I was a direct witness and participant of events in 2003, which took place with Andrew Mogilyansky's active participation. These events could not have excaped the eye of Russia's security services, and became the reason for their continued persecution of Mogilyansky.

First, some history.

On the night of October 23, 2002 a group of terrorists captured 912 hostages (according to official data) in a Moscow theater showing the "Nord-Ost" musical. In the morning of October 26 Russia's security services stormed the building using a special chemical agent (a fentanyl-based aerosol). As a result of the operation all terrorists were killed, and over 900 hostages had gas poisoning of various severity. 125 of them died, including 11 children.

It is common to consider this terrorist act a "Russian" tragedy. In truth, the tragedy touched citizens of many other countries. Among the hostages were citizens of 22 countries - Austria, Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Latvia, The Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, USA, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, France, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. None of the leaders of Russia's security services have been held responsible for the death of hostages.

There is a lot of information about this terrorist act on the Internet. I would like to bring attention to the lies surrounding the official version of events at "Nord-Ost". Here are just some examples.

1. The Russian authorities are actively referring to foreign experts' statements that the "rescue" operation was successful. They forget to mention that these statements were made when Russian authorities were openly lying about the results of the operation: when it was already known that many hostages (including children) had died, Russian officials were falsely reporting that all hostages had survivied.
2. The Russian authorities initially witheld the information that a gas was used. It was not revealed until the radio station "Moscow Echo" played the recording of a phone call with hostages N. Skoptsova and A. Adrianova, which was made as the theater was being stormed, that the authorities were finally forced to admit it (the hostages expressly mentioned an unknown gas being used).
3. The authorities are witholding the exact composition of the gas to this day, although they continue to insist it was harmless. In particular, on September 20, 2003 Putin said at a press conference to foreign journalists: "The gas was not harmful, it was harmless. It could not have caused any harm to people. Not a single hostage was harmed during the [special forces] operation".
4. In order to conceal the truth about the effect of the gas on human body, diagnoses in hostages' medical charts were purposefully misstated (see for example (1), (2), (3)).
5. The medical charts and other documents the cause of the poisoned hostages' sickness was marked as a "household trauma", as if their health was harmed not by the government, but by some apartment-building neighbors (here, for example, a copy of the diagnosis page from my own medical chart).
6. The authorities obstructed the activities of organizations which provided assistance to the hostages, as, for example, was told by Lev Ambinder, the chairman of a Russian assistance foundation.

Even these few facts demonstrate that the "Nord-Ost" story was quite unpalatable to the Russian government. The authorities did everything to conceal the truth, and prevent those who wanted to organize from doing so.

Nevertheless in the spring of 2003 the surviving hostages and relatives of victims united their efforts under the umbrella of ROO (NGO) "Nord-Ost". A significant assistance in forming this organization was provided by a foundation helping Nord-Ost victims, which was formed in the USA by Andrew Mogilyansky. This foundation was not only active in raising funds and helping victim and hostage families, but also helped us unite by sharing with us its information database of hostage families, and by serving as an example and inspiration of a successful pro-Nord-Ost project.

One of the tasks for our new organization (ROO "Nord-Ost") was to attract public opinion to the tragedy and to demand an independent investigation. There was no hope the Russian judicial system would do anything - the official version of events of October 23-26, 2002 was that the gas was supposedly harmless, and the simultaneous deaths of 125 people were all caused by weak health, stress and other causes not related to the gas. In order to counter this lie, we needed facts.

And it was none other than Andrew Mogilyansky who helped us get these facts.

On September 15, 2003 Andrew provided the coordination committe of ROO "Nord-Ost" with scientific proof that the use of fentanyl gas is statistically assured to kill about 15% of those affected. And the people ordering its use certainly knew this. Moreover, this fatality rate was the direct result of using the gas in the exact concentration already acknowledged by Putin - the concentration minimally necessary to put 900 people to sleep.

On September 24, 2003, in response to my request, OOD "For Human Rights" sent an official inquiry to the FSB about the legality of using the gas at "Nord-Ost". The FSB replied that the gas was harmless.

Jumping forward for a brief moment, I must say that the official version of Russian authorities was deemed absurd by the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR): "...it is contrary to common sense to conclude that 125 people of different ages and physical conditions had died almost simultaneously and in the same place because of various illnesses, immobility, stress and lack of fresh air. Even if the gas had not been a 'lethal force' but rather a 'non-lethal incapacitating weapon', it had been dangerous and even potentially fatal for a weakened person...".

I already wrote that my fiancee Sandy Booker was a US citizen. As often happens in such cases, the US Justice Department started a criminal inquiry into Sandy Booker's death, and began investigating its circumstances. I agreed to provide my testimony. It was very important for me to testify before the Grand Jury - I still held out hope that those responsible for the deaths of so many people will be identified and punished.

However, the US investigation which was supposed to enter the Grand Jury stage in July 2003 was suspended by early October 2003, and the Grand Jury was postopned indefinitely. I wrote about this to Andrew Mogilyansky on October 1, 2003, and asked for his help.

Because of Andrew's efforts the situation changed radically in as little as 5 days. By October 15, 2003 the FBI officially invited me and Andrew Mogilyansky to testify. Andrew undertook to organize my arrival and accommodations in the USA, and the Grand Jury hearings were scheduled specifically for the time frame when I would be in the USA.

Mogilyansky booked my tickets, and the Foundation for Civil Liberties, headed by Alex Goldfarb, paid for it. On October 26, 2003, after the memorial meeting in front of the Dubrovka theater in Moscow, I boarded a plane headed for America.

I was met in New York by Alex Goldfarb - yes, the same Alex Goldfarb who brought Alexander Litvinenko to London. The Foundation for Civil Liberties hired an attorney for me, who was going to help me in Washington, D.C. during my Grand Jury testimony, because I was not familiar with American judicial procedures.

Andrew helped me compose the summary of my testimony; the first item was the accusation of Russian authorities in killing the hostages: "The blame for Sasha's and Sandy's deaths lies with Baraev's terrorists, but I is equally shared by the Russian authorities that used the deadly gas. I believe that any indictment should include both sides: the Chechens for hostage taking and Russian authoruties for deliberately killing people for political reasons."

In the first part of November 2003 Andrew and I went to Washington, D.C. to testify to the US Department of Justice and the Grand Jury. The testimony took 4 days (from November 10 to November 13, 2003). Unfortunately, the Russian authorities were never indicted for the death of Sandy Booker. This happened, I presume, for political reasons, because their culpability for the death of Sandy was obvious.

After testifying in Washington, D.C. I gave several interviews to American and Russian media outlets in which I, of course, mentioned Andrew Mogilyansky's assistance.

I bring the readers' attention again to the fact that this was taking place just before the Russian presidential elections, which were scheduled for March 2004. The chief arguments of the oppostion for why Putin should not be re-elected were accusations that he concealed the truth about the October 2002 Nord-Ost terrorist act, and also that he had built a society based on lies and fear. For example, an opposition presidential candidate Irina Hakamada said in her statement addressed to Russian citizens who had suffered from state-sponsored terrorism: statement addressed to Russian citizens who had suffered from state-sponsored terrorism: "I never said this before because I was hoping that President Putin would finally help establish the truth, and confess to his order to use the deadly gas. But Putin is silent, and does not give answers to people who lost their loved ones. President Putin has made his choice - the citizens of Russia do not know the truth. I have also made my choice - to tell the truth. [which is] As a result of my direct negotiations with the terrorists on October 23, 2002, and based on the subsequent events, I am convinced that the terrists had no plans to blow up the theater, while the authorities had no interest in saving all hostages."

In the first days of December 2003 (approximately two-three weeks after he and I testified in Washington, D.C.) Andrew Mogilyansky flew to Russia. It is exactly there and then, in December 2003, that the "evidence" first emerged of his supposed involvement in the criminal organization "Berenika."

I have no doubt that the aforementioned "evidence" was fabricated. Moreover, I think that Andrew got lucky - he could have been simply killed, as they killed others who tried to help us: Yushenkov, Litvinenko, Politkovskaya.

I read that, after 2008 his arrest in the USA for Russia-furnished accusations dated in late 2003 - early 2004, Andrew plead guilty in 2009 to engaging in sexual relations with three prostitutes aged 13-14 (and not to purportedly participating in "Berenika" as was falsely claimed by all Russian media). I am convinced that Andrew did this to save his family. And I am not alone - Andrew was supported by a huge number of people, many of whom I personally know, and who are certainly not inclined to support pedophiles or organizers of child prostitution.

As any reasonable mother, I hate monsters who cause harm to children! And I would never come to Andrew Mogilyansky's defense if I had any inkling of doubt of his honor and innosence. But I am convinced that Andrew Mogilyansky fell victim to the same political games as earlier did we, participants of the "Nord-Ost" movement.

Andrew Mogilyansky deserves not accusations and damnation, but compassion for trying to help terror act victims, as a result of which he ended up in a political meatgrinder. Unfortunately, his kind deeds have cost too dearly, both to him and to his family.

I know that my letter will be placed on web sites, www.mogilyansky.com and www.InformationPolonium.com, along with copies of e-mail messages Andrew and I exchanged in the fall of 2003. I confirm the authenticity of the e-mail messages which Andrew and I exchanged at that time.

A little bit about myself.

I am a member of the coordination committee of ROO "Nord-Ost" and the owner of web site www.nord-ost.org. This is a memorial site honoring those who died at Nord-Ost. It tells about the terrorist act itself and about everything that happened afterwards.

I was unable to save my family, lost those most dear to me - and this can never be replaced. What I am doing now - is trying to defend people, so they would not be gassed to death, like my daughter Sasha Letyago in a Moscow theater, so they would not be killed with tank shells, like Zaur Gutnov - the grandson of my colleage Galina Chernova, who was killed in a Beslan elementary school.

My contact information, including e-mail address and phone number, can be found on web site www.nord-ost.org. I am ready to answer any questions connected to the above events and, if necessary, provide additional clarifications.

Svetlana Gubareva
April 2, 2016