Some 30 hours after riding off in triumph from one of the modern world’s biggest hostage-taking standoffs, Chechen rebels headed for safety Tuesday in the remote mountain hideouts of their war-torn Muslim enclave.
Even before the gunmen released their remaining 123 human shields after reaching southern Chechnya late Tuesday, the Kremlin’s inept handling of the six-day crisis had sparked a political firestorm in the Russian capital.
Major newspapers condemned the country’s leadership for indecision, cowardice, stupidity and criminal disregard for the hostages’ safety. Moscow initially ordered force, then offered concessions to resolve the bloodbath in the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk.
A no-confidence parliament vote against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was scheduled for debate Wednesday. And the Communist Party pushed for impeachment proceedings against President Boris Yeltsin.
Neither action is likely to bring about immediate changes in the leadership. But many analysts, and even some government insiders, agree that Yeltsin and his allies have been seriously weakened.
Yeltsin advisers now worry that political opponents will revive the sort of no-holds-barred obstructionism that spawned an armed uprising 20 months ago. A bomb scare Tuesday at Russia’s White House government building underscored that concern. Everyone inside, except those engaged in urgent work, were evacuated, according to Itar-TASS news agency.
“Yeltsin’s people displayed weakness and a lack of discipline during the crisis, making snap decisions that backfired and working at cross purposes,” said one source close to the government.
“Now they’re very frightened that the opposition will recover the nerve and determination it lost in November 1993,” a reference to Yeltsin’s use of elite troops and tanks to crush armed foes holed up in the Russian White House, then the fortress of anti-Yeltsin politics.
An experienced Western diplomat agreed.
“It used only enough force to create a scandal and humiliate itself, but chickened out before the troops could get the job done,” the envoy said.
On Saturday, Russian commandos twice stormed Budyonnovsk’s main hospital, where more than 1,000 civilian hostages were being held, including many children. Dozens of hostages were killed or wounded in the unsuccessful assaults.
“There are a lot of folks out there with ugly grudges against Yeltsin, including some in the military and security services,” the diplomat noted. “If any of them were thinking about moving against Yeltsin, what happened last weekend wouldn’t discourage them.”
On Tuesday, Yeltsin announced that Russia’s Security Council, which oversees defense and security affairs, will examine the Budyonnovsk fiasco.
“Probably next week, there will be a special meeting of the Security Council that will discuss only this question: Why, what happened, who is responsible and who should be punished?” Yeltsin said.
Despite the widespread perception that Chernomyrdin had upstaged and embarrassed Yeltsin by negotiating with Chechen commander Shamil Basayev on TV, the president defended his prime minister, saying, “I don’t see any mistakes on his part.”
Some analysts hailed Chernomyrdin as the hero of the hostage standoff. He got the rebels to release most of their hostages by ordering a cease-fire in Chechnya and agreeing to new peace talks with representatives of the secessionist regime of Jokhar Dudayev. But Chernomyrdin also is being criticized by those who think he kowtowed to terrorists and thus had sown the seeds of further terrorism.
Gen. Alexander Lebed, the closest thing to a national hero in Russia these days, said Chernomyrdin had squandered the country’s honor.
In fact, Chernomyrdin could end up being the biggest political loser in the fallout. He surely would be blamed if Basayev’s feats inspire other Chechens to strike out at Russian targets. Moreover, Basayev is still on the loose, free to attempt another terroristic spectacle.
The rebel’s six buses and a refrigerated truck loaded with the corpses of dead comrades reached the village of Zandak, near Vedeno, in southern Chechnya at dusk Tuesday. There, Basayev released the last of his volunteer hostages, parliamentarians and journalists who had agreed to be shields against a Russian double-cross.
The tragedy began June 14, when Basayev and about 200 gunmen swept into Budyonnovsk, engaging in an evening spree of killing before hunkering down in the hospital complex with the hostages. Only about a quarter of the gunmen were still alive when the rebels departed in buses Monday.
Elsewhere, progress was reported at peace talks in the bombed-out Chechen capital, Grozny. The two sides agreed to extend the cease-fire for three more days beginning Wednesday and discuss troop withdrawals.
