MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - The gas used at the Dubrovka theater in October 2002 was later used in other operations, and Western security services have requested the formula of the substance, according to Andrei Kondrashov's film 'Putin'.
The second part of the film has been posted by Kondrashov's colleague Dmitry Kiselyov on social media.
"Surprised that the number of hostages killed in this terrorist attack, which was unprecedented in scale, did not exceed 15%, the Western security services requested from the Federal Security Service [FSB] the formula of this unique gas mixture," Kondrashov said in the film. "Criticism of the operation in the West began immediately; they thought in Europe that such terrorist attacks just could not happen there," he said.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, who was then director of the FSB, said in the film that "some people regained consciousness without an antidote" after being impacted by the gas. "This confirms that it's a fully normal substance. And that substance was used later - we didn't report it - and there were no victims," Patrushev said.
The special forces' mission "was highly successful and no hostages were hurt," he said. "I reported that to the president. That no one was hurt. But some time later reports started coming in that some people had died after all," Patrushev said.
Putin said in the film that "many people died because of, let's speak frankly, lack of skill required to act in that situation, not because of shooting and even not because of that gas."
"There were enough antidote doses, one just needed to make an injection. Some people got two or three [injections], and some didn't get any," Putin said.
"We conducted a very thorough investigation. It is hard to punish someone in that situation. People [special forces operatives] knew they might die," he said.
Patrushev said "there was a huge amount of explosive substances" in the theater, which apparently exerted influence, pressure, on the people who conducted the rescue operation."
Terrorists took over 900 people hostage in the Dubrovka theater during the musical "Nord-Ost" on October 23, 2002 and held them for three days. On the morning of October 26, the building was pumped with an unknown gas and stormed. All of the terrorists were killed. According to official reports, 130 hostages, including ten children, died. Most of them died after the storming, which led to accusations against the authorities that the gas used was harmful. Its formula remains secret.