Berezovsky tried to “exterminate Russia”

On Tuesday, Russian media tycoon Boris Berezovsky held a press-conference in London. Organizers of the press-conference said that the conference was held to prove to the world and Russian society the connection of the Russian special services with the explosions of the apartment blocks in Russian cities of Moscow and Volgodonsk in 1999. The conference entitled “Is Russia a Country of State Terrorism under President Putin?” posed a problem about the disorder in Russian special services. The media tycoon has touched upon the problems several times already.

In Berezovsky’s words, he has started an independent investigation of the events. “I am sure that it was the FSB that organized the explosions," Berezovsky said.

The documentary “The Extermination of Russia”, produced by French journalists Gazel and Denier, is a collection of footage from Russian TV channels. The French journalists say that they held an independent investigation in the Russian cities of Moscow, Volgodonsk, and Ryazan; they are sure that FSB is connected with the explosions.

Contradictory statements of the Russian power structures are the grounds for such a conclusion according to the journalists. Russia’s Minister for Internal Affairs of that time Vladimir Rushailo said that an act of terrorism was prevented in Ryazan; However, the statement of FSB head Nikolay Patrushev was different. He said that it was not an act of terrorism and that exercises were held in Ryazan; sugar, not explosives were used.

Berezovsky thinks that the contradictions between top officials confirm their connection with the acts of terrorism in Russia. Former acting director of the Russian Conversion Explosives Center Nikita Chekulin was present at the conference organized by Berezovsky in London. Chekulin says that he was recruited by the FSB as a secret agent for the anti-terrorism department. In his words, hexogen was stolen from storages in large amounts. This explosive can kill dozens of people.

Berezovsky’s revelations are not worth anything, because the exiled oligarch used to talk about his support of President Putin. It hardly could have been just blind love of the president, which, in its turn, means that Berezovsky knew everything at that time and still kept silent.

At the conference’s conclusion, Boris Berezovsky said that the explosions that sounded in Moscow and Volgodonsk and that one prevented in Ryazan were directed at one objective only. The FSB wanted to guarantee Vladimir Putin’s coming to power, as the service was not sure he would be able to do it in a democratic way.

Vladimir Putin held the post of Russian prime minister in September of 1999 when the explosions sounded. He won the support of the public opinion by the decision to launch a large-scale invasion in Chechnya following the explosions. That war, in its turn, caused a wave of patriotism, which made for Putin’s victory during the 2000 presidential election.

Boris Berezovsky was not acting against his conscience here. He was so proud of “creating Putin," which is why he could have performed an operation that resulted in the coming of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. This brings to mind the picture with well-known Chechen commander Shamil Basayev, Boris Berezovsky, and head of the presidential administration Vladimir Voloshin together. Most likely, they were discussing the invasion of Dagestan. If this is so, Boris Berezovsky has admitted his guilt. His connection with Chechen gangs seems to be quite possible at that. Berezovsky has done more harm than good to himself.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Photo from BBC archives

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/03/06/37953.html