Chechans Had Security Pass to Closed Nuclear City In Russia

Geostrategy Direct.com and Russian Newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta ^ | Week of Nov. 19, 2002 | Bill Gertz

[ewing]

Russian authorities in Sverdlovsk Oblast recently arrested three heavily armed Chechans who were carrying a security pass giving them access to a nuclear weapons center.

Russia's government owned newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported last week that the Chechans carried an AK-47 assault rifle with a silencer, two pistols, eight grenades, 400 grams of plastic explosive, detonators, and remote controlled triggers.

The pass gave the three men access to the closed city of Lesnoy, where Russia produces nuclear warheads.

Authorities first thought the pass had been forged. But later investigation showed it to be authentic. It was issued to Roman Tasukhanov, whose father served in Lesnoy.

[ewing]

Those wacky Chechan rebels, we wouldn't want to call them 'terrorists' or other nasty names like that!

[barker]

...the Chechans carried an AK-47 assault rifle with a silencer, two pistols, eight grenades, 400 grams of plastic explosive, detonators, and remote controlled triggers.

So just what tipped the authorities off that these men looked suspicious?

[E.Allen]

Those evil mean spirited Russians probably used racial profiling to persecute them.

[ewing]

They were looking for two hispanic men in a White Rental van.

[concerned about politics]

PAGING MINNASODIANS...... This morning there are 17 with more planes coming over. Planes are coming in from all points of the compass, but seem to be intersecting over Callaway County about 20 miles east of here. Only thing of interest over there is Callaway County Nuke Plant. So does anybody know why the sudden air activity over rural mid Mo.....

(Compliments of Dummies at DU inc.)

[concerned about politics]

So just what tipped the authorities off that these men looked suspicious?

ROFL.

[MarMema]

Freep these terrorist scum with your false t-shirt order.

[Man of the Right]

Oh-oh.

The Chechens are the highest risk nuclear conduit. An order of magnitude higher than the Paks or Iraqis.

U.S. ought to do more than stop criticizing the Russkies for defending themselves. We ought to be helping them kill Chechen rebels.

[Man of the Right]

Oh-oh.

The Chechens are the highest risk nuclear conduit. An order of magnitude higher than the Paks or Iraqis.

U.S. ought to do more than stop criticizing the Russkies for defending themselves. We ought to be helping them kill Chechen rebels.

[MarMema]

three heavily armed Chechans who were carrying a security pass giving them access to a nuclear weapons center.

All jokes aside, I think this is downright terrifying. They have shown their intention here, and it is nuclear. Time for Putin to perhaps respond in kind. Enough is enough.

[MarMema]

3/21/2002: ARRESTED CHECHEN ARMS DEALER RETAINED ACCESS PASS TO LESNOY

On 21 March 2002, Sverdlovsk police detained three armed Chechens engaged in arms trafficking. One of the detainees, Roman Tasukhanov, had a valid pass allowing unrestricted access to Lesnoy. During a search of the detainees' houses, the police also found a stockpile of weapons, including explosives, detonators, and remote-control explosive devices. Both the local police and FSB insisted at first that the pass was fake or had been found or bought. But Nikolay Sorokin, the case investigator, told Izvestiya afterwards that an examination had proven the authenticity of the pass. The special security service in Lesnoy issues such access passes only to permanent residents or to their visiting close relatives. According to Sorokin, Tasukhanov, whose father was a military officer and lived in Lesnoy before moving to Chechnya, kept the pass and could have entered Lesnoy any time. However, Tasukhanov and his accomplices claim that they did not plan any terrorist attacks on the closed city or nuclear facility.

from here

Do you think this is from March or more recent?

[SuziQ]

This episode sounds eeirily like the opening to "Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy. A Muslim who worked at a Soviet Oil Refinery came to work one night with two heavily armed 'friends' and proceeded to destroy the facility.

Sounds like these folks just wanted to get their hands on some nukes; that's even scarier!

[antaresequity]

Link is broken or they yanked the site...what was it?

[jrlc]

Certainly we don't want to call the Islamonazis, because Islam is a peaceful religion as long as the women are beaten, the boys buggered and the infidels killed.

[MD_Willington_1976]

Those nasty Russians interrupted their last shopping stop before the holiday season really gets swinging and you know how busy it can get when shopping for the holiday's... ak-47 for my uncle, c4 for my mother in law...war head for the twins...Oh the list goes on and on...

All jokes aside, I think that there is WAY too much soviet surplus laying around over there...someone has got to keep an eye on things a little better.

[MarMema]

It still works for me. Try it again. Just a site I found while googling for "lesnoy Russia". About halfway down on the first page of hits.

[Augie]

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that there are two municipal airports
and one regional airport within 30 miles of the nuke plant. Couldn't be that.

What's even more curious is why he/she/it was asking the MINNASODIANS about a nuke plant in MISERY. I know, it was a dumbocrap that wrote it, but good grief...