Russians faced 'explosive' task

Russian forces are facing growing criticism

Anger is growing over the tactics used to overpower the Chechen rebels in the Moscow theatre siege, particularly the use of a gas intended to incapacitate the guerrillas but which ended up killing many hostages indiscriminately.

Former SAS man, Ken Connor, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Russians had been facing a daunting task.

"I think the great problem the Russians faced was the unprecedented scale of the problem.

"It was known from very early on that there were around about 50 terrorists in the building, there were 700 hostages.

"There was a hostage killed very early on - so the Russians knew the terrorists were armed, they knew they had bombs."

Many hostages remain in a serious condition

The difficulty then, Mr Connor went on, was getting enough special forces troops in to incapacitate the terrorists "very, very quickly".

"If you don't do it in split seconds, then they can press their explosive devices and the carnage is dreadful."

The scale of the operation - the 50 plus terrorists, 700 hostages and the large building - forced the Russians "to have to explore every possible avenue they had".

When it came to considering how to use gas in a space like a theatre, they would have known that in siege situations the hostages are always static, forced to stay put, while the terrorists tend to be mobile.

"So if you're calculating how much gas you might need to introduce into an area, by definition the hostages will always take more gas than the terrorists because they can walk around.

"If you happen to be unlucky and be sat near the vent where the gas is coming in or you're elderly or have a respiratory problem, then the problems multiply. So the problems for the hostages [with gas] are greater than for the terrorists."

Information unclear

Asked if the Russians had any alternative if they believed hostages were being shot, Mr Connor said: "To be honest, I'm not sure."

"The information that's coming out of Moscow isn't definite and I'm not certain that the terrorists had started shooting hostages at that stage.

"To introduce the gas takes a long time - it's not a thing that you can do in seconds. So I get the impression that it was in the dark hours, when everyone was tired and sleeping, they started introducing the gas then.

It's a massive, massive problem

"If there had been wholesale carnage, I think that the special forces would have gone in straightaway. I don't think they would have waited until the gas was introduced.

"But the big problem is - as I just repeat - is the size and the scale of the problem. You need to be able to go into a building, take out a terrorist. You've got to assume that they're wearing body armour. You've got to assume that everyone has got a detonating device.

"So you're talking about a distance problem and an accuracy problem where the rescuers have got to get quite close to the terrorists to be able to shoot them in the head to stop them exploding the devices.

"So it's a massive, massive problem."