Two people were killed by terrorists in an attack on the Baksan hydroelectric power plant in Kabardino-Balkaria. The terrorists knew something about the power plant's layout and functioning. Having penetrated the power plant, they demanded that the staff tell them about the plant's layout. Consequently, the terrorists installed several explosive devices and left, taking two Kalashnikov rifles and a pistol they took from security officers. No terrorist organization advanced conditions or took responsibility for this act of terror.
Late at night the first device went off, then two more. However, this terrorist attack had substantially fewer consequences than the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam incident. At the Baksan hydroelectric power plant, the hydraulic facilities were not damaged, there is no threat of flooding of settlements in the surrounding territories, and the plant's power capacity just 25 megawatts (the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam's power capacity is 6400 megawatts). In the Baksan terrorist attack 2 people were killed ( in the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam accident 75 people were killed). However, the fact is that yesterday a hydroelectric power plant was attacked by terrorists for the first time in Russian history.
It should be noted that terrorists have previously attempted to attack some North Caucasus energy facilities. Terrorists have frequently managed to blow power lines up.
The mass media reported that the act of terror was supposedly carried out by militants from the Baksan Jamia of Amir Abdullah. He is the leader of Kabardino-Balkarian militants and the successor of Anzor Astemirov. It is believed that Astemirov was one of the closest companions of Shamil Basayev and Dokka Umarov, and organized the Nalchik attack in October 2005. Despite the fact that Astemirov was killed on March 24th 2010, the well-organized religious extremist underground network still exists and seeks to recruit new adherents. These attempts are made against the background of acute socio-economic problems, the financial crisis and a very high unemployment rate.
Meanwhile, according to the "Free press" source, the current heightened activity of militants in Kabardino-Balkaria is attributed to the upcoming reappointment of the president of Kabardino-Balkaria, Arsen Kanokov. There are many candidates for this post, but a prominent one is the head of the Rosneft Oil Company, Valery Kardanov. He is a member of the former president's clan. It is not unlikely that the destabilization is connected with the struggle for power. Kanokov recently told a press-conference that the tense situation in the republic is connected with the presidential reappointment.
Russian intelligence services warned that hydroelectric facilities in the South of Russia may undergo acts of terror, but that any measures, if they were taken, were definitely insufficient.
Ekaterina Tesemnikova, exclusively for VK
