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Chechens Gain Access to Nuclear Warheads (Izvestia)
When three armed Chechens were detained in the Sverdlovsk region Thursday, one of them was carrying a pass allowing free access to the town of Lesnoi, where nuclear warheads are manufactured. Much to their surprise, investigators established that the pass was not a fake.
When three armed Chechens were detained in the Sverdlovsk region Thursday, one of them was carrying a pass allowing free access to the town of Lesnoi, where nuclear warheads are manufactured. Much to their surprise, investigators established that the pass was not a fake.
The Chechens were caught red-handed when they were trying to sell two Makarov guns for $1,500 each. The buyers were in fact operatives of the Sverdlovsk police department, who were fighting illegal arms possession.
The Chechens were caught red-handed when they were trying to sell two Makarov guns for $1,500 each.
When operatives searched the Chechens' homes, they found an impressive arsenal: a Kalashnikov with a silencer and special cartridges, eight grenades, 400 grams of explosives, detonators, remote-controlled explosive devices and cold steel. They also found 900 dollars, handfuls of raw emeralds, and a finished ruby weighing 20 grams. The finishing touch was Honor is More Valuable Than Life, a book written by Aslan Maskhadov.
The most important find was the pass allowing access to Lesnoi, a restricted area in the north of the Sverdlovsk Region where nuclear warheads for Russian missiles are manufactured. That is why investigators at first refused to comment on the situation.
At first, both security and police officers suggested that the pass was most likely a fake or that it might have been found or bought. Whatever the case may be, Roman Tasukhanov (the Chechen who was carrying it at the time of the arrest) or anyone else could have entered Lesnoi without much difficulty. This is how Lesnoi's security arrangements work: a turnstile at the checkpoint opens when the pass is inserted in a slot. The passes are issued only to Lesnoi residents and close relatives staying with them. A guard standing behind the turnstile is supposed to check the identification cards, but he does not do that all the time.
Experts have established the authenticity of Tasukhanov's pass.
Investigator Nikolai Sorokin agreed to talk to an Izvestia reporter after all. He said experts had established the authenticity of Tasukhanov's pass. Because Tasukhanov's father was an army serviceman, his family had lived in Lesnoi before moving to Chechnya. Tasukhanov kept the pass; therefore, he could have entered Lesnoi any time he wanted to. The investigator quoted the three Chechens as claiming they were not going to stage terrorist acts and that a man by the name of Magomed had supplied them with the weapons for sale. They said he had brought them from Chechnya.
For his part, the deputy head of the Sverdlovsk Region's Department of Investigation, Andrei Taranenko, told Izvestia that trying to find out how the Chechen had got hold of the pass was not his department's job because a special service was responsible for issuing passes for Lesnoi and other restricted areas. Taranenko said that most likely the FSB would have to deal with that aspect of the case. |
