1977 Moscow bombings
Encyclopedia
The 1977 Moscow bombings were a series of bombings in Moscow committed on January 8, 1977. These terrorist attacks claimed seven lives, while thirty-seven people were seriously injured. No one ever claimed responsibility for the bombing, though three members of an Armenia
n nationalist organization were ultimately executed for it after a secret trial following a KGB
investigation. Some Soviet dissidents
claimed that the suspects had an alibi
, and Andrei Sakharov
believed the bombings might have been arranged by the KGB itself, although this was never proven.
stations of the Moscow Metro
. At 18:05, a second bomb detonated inside the grocery store
in the Bauman area. Five minutes later the third bomb exploded near yet another grocery store on the 25th of October Street, just a few hundred meters away from KGB
and CPSU
headquarters. On February 8, 1977, Izvestia
, an official newspaper of the Soviet government, reported that the attacks had resulted in seven deaths and 37 injuries.
, rather than the Moscow police. An initial suspect, named Potapov, was arrested in Tambov
after setting off an explosive device which killed his neighbour's wife and two daughters. After being arrested, Potapov confessed that he was also behind the acts of terrorism in Moscow. However, this turned out to have been a forced confession
, and after an investigation lasting one month, this false trail was dropped by KGB operatives.
In October 1977, alleged proof of Armenian involvement was received. At the Tashkent Airport, a KGB officer noticed a woman carrying a bag, similar to the one in the reconstructed picture of the explosive device sent out by the KGB to all local branches. It turned out that these bags were manufactured only in Yerevan. In November 1977 Stepan Zatikyan, a member of a splinter group of the National Unification Party, an underground Armenian nationalist organization, was arrested. His accomplices Zaven Bagdasaryan and Akop Stepanyan were also taken into custody after an unsuccessful attempt to detonate an explosive device at the Kursky Rail Terminal
in Moscow. A secret trial
followed; Zatikyan, Stepanyan, and Bagdasaryan were all found guilty on January 24 and executed five days later. The Soviet press published only one article about the bombings, naming Zatikyan alone as the perpetrator. According to KGB general Philip Bobkov, any publications in Armenia were blocked by Karen Demirchyan
, the head of Soviet Armenia.
(Vitaly Yevgenyevich Lui), published an article about the involvement of Soviet dissidents
in the violent terrorism acts, although most of the dissidents officially declared a non-violent struggle for the human rights
. After learning about the publication by Lui, Andrei Sakharov
wrote an "Appeal to world community" where he requested an impartial investigation and suggested that the bombings might have been arranged by the KGB
itself to discredit the entire Soviet dissident movement
He stated: "I have serious grounds for concern. This is the provocation article in London Evening News
by Victor Lui. These are arrests and interrogations of people who are clearly not related to the bombings. These are murders of last months, probably committed by the KGB which were not investigated. It is enough to mention only two of them: murder of poet Konstantin Bogatyrev and murder of lawyer Evgeni Brunov."
According to Soviet dissident Alexander Tarasov
, he was indeed interrogated by a KGB
investigator at this time. The KGB investigator tried to "convince" him that it was actually him who brought the bomb. Unless "I had 300% alibi" (he was confined at a hospital at the time of the bombings), "it would be me who was executed instead of Zatikyan", he said.
Russian historian Alexander Nekrich
states that the execution of Zatikyan, Stepanyan, and Bagdasaryan was the first political execution in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin.
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n nationalist organization were ultimately executed for it after a secret trial following a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
investigation. Some Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents were citizens of the Soviet Union who disagreed with the policies and actions of their government and actively protested against these actions through either violent or non-violent means...
claimed that the suspects had an alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
, and Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
believed the bombings might have been arranged by the KGB itself, although this was never proven.
Bombings
On January 8, 1977 three explosive devices detonated in Moscow. The first bomb went off at 17:33 on a crowded train between the Izmailovskaya and PervomaiskayaPervomayskaya (Metro)
Pervomayskaya :* Pervomayskaya * Pervomayskaya * Pervomayskaya * Pervomayskaya...
stations of the Moscow Metro
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and the neighbouring town of Krasnogorsk. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2011, the Moscow Metro has 182 stations and its route length is . The system is...
. At 18:05, a second bomb detonated inside the grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
in the Bauman area. Five minutes later the third bomb exploded near yet another grocery store on the 25th of October Street, just a few hundred meters away from KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
and CPSU
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
headquarters. On February 8, 1977, Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
, an official newspaper of the Soviet government, reported that the attacks had resulted in seven deaths and 37 injuries.
Official version
The official investigation was conducted by the KGBKGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, rather than the Moscow police. An initial suspect, named Potapov, was arrested in Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
after setting off an explosive device which killed his neighbour's wife and two daughters. After being arrested, Potapov confessed that he was also behind the acts of terrorism in Moscow. However, this turned out to have been a forced confession
Forced confession
A forced confession is a confession obtained by a suspect or a prisoner under means of torture, enhanced interrogation technique or duress.Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession may or may not be valid in revealing the truth...
, and after an investigation lasting one month, this false trail was dropped by KGB operatives.
In October 1977, alleged proof of Armenian involvement was received. At the Tashkent Airport, a KGB officer noticed a woman carrying a bag, similar to the one in the reconstructed picture of the explosive device sent out by the KGB to all local branches. It turned out that these bags were manufactured only in Yerevan. In November 1977 Stepan Zatikyan, a member of a splinter group of the National Unification Party, an underground Armenian nationalist organization, was arrested. His accomplices Zaven Bagdasaryan and Akop Stepanyan were also taken into custody after an unsuccessful attempt to detonate an explosive device at the Kursky Rail Terminal
Kursky Rail Terminal
Kursky Rail Terminal is one of the nine rail terminals in Moscow. It was built in 1896.There are currently plans in the pipeline to completely rebuild or refurbish the Kursky Rail Terminal.-Long distance from Moscow:-Long distance via Moscow:...
in Moscow. A secret trial
Secret trial
A secret trial is a trial that is not open to the public, nor generally reported in the news, especially any in-trial proceedings. Generally no official record of the case or the judge's verdict is made available. Often there is no indictment...
followed; Zatikyan, Stepanyan, and Bagdasaryan were all found guilty on January 24 and executed five days later. The Soviet press published only one article about the bombings, naming Zatikyan alone as the perpetrator. According to KGB general Philip Bobkov, any publications in Armenia were blocked by Karen Demirchyan
Karen Demirchyan
Karen Demirchyan was a Soviet Armenian communist, First Secretary of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1974 to 1988 and later independent politician...
, the head of Soviet Armenia.
Alleged fabrication by the KGB
Soon after the bombings, Soviet journalist Victor LouisVictor Louis (journalist)
Victor Louis was a Soviet journalist who worked for Western media outlets in Moscow and had close work connections with the senior levels of the USSR KGB. He was used by the Soviet government as an informal channel of communication and for subtle disinformation operations in the Cold War...
(Vitaly Yevgenyevich Lui), published an article about the involvement of Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents were citizens of the Soviet Union who disagreed with the policies and actions of their government and actively protested against these actions through either violent or non-violent means...
in the violent terrorism acts, although most of the dissidents officially declared a non-violent struggle for the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. After learning about the publication by Lui, Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
wrote an "Appeal to world community" where he requested an impartial investigation and suggested that the bombings might have been arranged by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
itself to discredit the entire Soviet dissident movement
Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents were citizens of the Soviet Union who disagreed with the policies and actions of their government and actively protested against these actions through either violent or non-violent means...
He stated: "I have serious grounds for concern. This is the provocation article in London Evening News
London Evening News
The London Evening News was a newspaper that was first published on 14 August 1855.Usually when people mention the London Evening News they are actually referring to The Evening News, that was published in London from 1881 to 1980 when it was incorporated into the Evening Standard.A newspaper under...
by Victor Lui. These are arrests and interrogations of people who are clearly not related to the bombings. These are murders of last months, probably committed by the KGB which were not investigated. It is enough to mention only two of them: murder of poet Konstantin Bogatyrev and murder of lawyer Evgeni Brunov."
According to Soviet dissident Alexander Tarasov
Alexander Tarasov
Alexander Nikolaevich Tarasov is a Russian Post-Marxist theoretician, sociologist and historian. Tarasov was a left-wing political dissident in the Soviet Union.- Biography :...
, he was indeed interrogated by a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
investigator at this time. The KGB investigator tried to "convince" him that it was actually him who brought the bomb. Unless "I had 300% alibi" (he was confined at a hospital at the time of the bombings), "it would be me who was executed instead of Zatikyan", he said.
Russian historian Alexander Nekrich
Alexander Nekrich
Aleksandr Moiseyevich Nekrich was a Soviet Russian historian, since 1976 in emigration to the United States, known for his works on the history of the Soviet Union, especially under Joseph Stalin’s rule....
states that the execution of Zatikyan, Stepanyan, and Bagdasaryan was the first political execution in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin.