Europe | Terrorism in Russia

The Chechens strike

Terrorists seize a Moscow theatre—and its audience

|moscow

WOULD it end in a massacre? Or in a slow, painfully negotiated, messy, compromise? Whatever the outcome—still to be seen as The Economist went to press—almost certainly hopes for peace in Chechnya were wiped out this week when a group of up to 50 Chechen terrorists marched into a Moscow theatre on Wednesday evening and took more than 700 people hostage. Their demand: an end to Russia's three-year-old military campaign in Chechnya.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The Chechens strike”

Restoring Europe's smile

From the October 26th 2002 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Ursula von der Leyen is bending down in front of a door. On the door is a sign that reads 'Danger! Hard right, keep locked'. In the bottom of the door is a cat flap. An arm is reaching out of the cat flap as she reaches down to take the hand.

Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right

The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term

Marine Le Pen (L) arrives at the Paris criminal courthouse for her trial on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds

Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets

She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics


Donald Trump shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as they meet in Palm Beach, Florida, United States, November 22nd 2024

The maths of Europe’s military black hole 

It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk


Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south 

Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale

Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats

The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare