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Ten-year-old hostage Yuri Alekseenko tells his story
Written by "Газета"   
Пятница, 25 Октябрь 2002
«I GRABBED MYSELF BY MY SHOULDERS AND SAT HUDDLED LIKE THAT»
 
In ‘Gazeta’
 
Ten-year-old ‘Yura’ (Yuri) ended up in the group of children released by the terrorists. His mother is still in the ‘Nord-Ost’ theatrical center auditorium. Yura told ‘Gazeta’ how the events unfolded:
 
These people in masks went out on stage and into the hall. They lined up the actors, shoulder-width apart. All of them had Kalashnikov (assault) rifles and TTs (Tokarev pistols). They wore black pants, big boots and no gloves. At first I thought it was a continuation of the show, even though it was not in the program.
 
We heard the sound of smashing glass out on the balcony. They started shooting up into the air. Then I realized that this was no joke, and my mother got really scared. I grabbed myself by my shoulders and sat huddled like that. Someone on our row was shaking, and since the seats are all connected, the whole row shook.
 
They had big ‘Kettler’ bags with them, apparently with explosives. They said that they had a remote control, and then asked: “Do you know Putin’s telephone number? We demand the withdrawal of the troops!”
 
I saw a few women among the people in masks. On their belts, on the kind they normally hang glasses, hung dynamite all taped up.
 
Their boss took off his mask and said that everybody should not worry, that if they comply with their demands then nobody would get hurt. He let us call our families to announce that we were hostages, and when he saw the panic in the room he joked: “You should already be used to this. This isn’t the first time.”
 
They started shooting at the scenery. One woman was calling on her mobile phone, and a terrorist went up to her and took away her phone. He called somewhere and said that they had captured us. Then he tossed the phone on the floor and broke it.
 
They said: “You'll sit here all night,” and they brought out a case of Coca-Cola.
 
Later they said that they would release children under ten years old. Beside me sat a girl who had her birthday that day (she was either 11 or 12) and her parents were in tears, pleading for them to release her, too. But they replied: “We don’t even know when our own birthday is!”
 
When we went downstairs, one of them said to me: “Somehow you don’t look that age!” I answered: “I'm big for my age!” and he left me alone.
 
When we passed the second floor, I noticed a box of ice cream. There were TT pistols with silencers on top of it.
 
As soon as we were captured, Mom called up Dad. When they took us out, he was already there. He grabbed me and sat me down in the car.
 
From Yura’s mother on the phone:
I am sitting in the auditorium in the same row, and in the same seat. All night long people were talking to each other about only one thing: how quickly the authorities could withdraw the troops. They will not let any use the bathroom, not even one at a time. They said: “Go piss in the orchestra pit.” And they also said: “You’ll sit here until the troops are withdrawn.”
 
 
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