Hostage survivors sue

last updated 8 January 2015

Moscow

Survivors of the Chechen hostage debacle in a Moscow theater last fall filed suit this week against the Russian government. Of more than 800 hostages taken by Chechen fighters, 129 died and dozens more were disabled when Russian forces pumped a massive dose of knockout gas into the theater to end the three-day siege. Survivors and victims’ families were each given $1,600, a sum they disdain. “Recently our president gave our prime minister a pair of skis,” survivor Alexander Shalnov told CNN. “They cost $800. So my family got the equivalent of two pairs of skis. Gee, thanks.” The lawsuit seeks $60 million—an astronomical sum in Russia, where such litigation is rare.