Hostage tells story of Moscow crisis
( 2002-10-29 16:24 ) (7 )

Actor Mark Podlesny, a surviver hostage, seen during an interview in a Moscow cafe, Monday, Oct. 28, 2002. Podlesny, 22, was on stage in his role as one of a group of tap-dancing pilots at the start of the second act Wednesday night. Just as Podlesny was about to pronounce his line, a masked gunman in camouflage jumped on stage. [AP]

The actors were just ending a tap dance when an armed, camouflaged man rushed the stage in the Moscow theater. "I thought it was a joke, though a strange joke," says one actor. But with a volley of gunfire, a night out at a popular musical turned into a deadly hostage drama.

In the first moments of the crisis Wednesday, actors were ordered off the stage, and the band of Chechen rebels — men and women — announced their demands for a halt of the war in the breakaway southern Russian province.

The actor, 22-year-old Mark Podlesny, uttered one last line in the musical, titled "Nord-Ost," before the rebels took over. What followed were 58 terrifying hours spent in the theater's seats under the eyes of the captors until soldiers ended the standoff in a raid that left 116 hostages dead.

The female terrorists each controlled a section of the theater hall, and talked to their hostages about life in Chechnya (news - web sites).

"They said they lost all their loved ones, and had nobody and nothing else to lose," Podlesny said.

But despite their captors' apparent willingness to die, Podlesny said the around 800 hostages were treated "correctly." The captors didn't swear and didn't drink alcohol or smoke, and he said he didn't see them using drugs.

"It was unbelievable, but the terrorist women almost didn't sleep during all that time, though men did sometimes for a little while," Podlesny said.

Podlesny says he slept even more than usual, using his slumber as a distraction from the situation. "It was easier just to sleep and not see all that," he said.

Podlesny said he had the feeling that terrorists themselves were also scared.

"I suppose they were afraid they would not achieve their goals and die," he said, adding that some of the female captors were very young, possibly only 16 years old.

Hostages couldn't watch television, but they still heard about how their plight was being portrayed in the outside world from portable TVs and radios that some of their captors had.

The hostages were initially allowed to use their cell phones, though terrorists took them away two days later for fears they were talking to Russian security services.

Podlesny said he called his wife but kept telling her that he was fine, no matter what was happening inside. The two have a 1-year-old daughter.

"I know her nervous system, and couldn't tell her anything about what was going on in the hall," he said.

As the crisis continued, many of the hostages tried to placate their captors and supported them in calling for an end to war in Chechnya. Many called relatives to organize anti-war protests and persuade Russian forces not to storm the theater.

The terrorists appeared to become more aggressive after a crew with NTV television was allowed in to film them but didn't air their entire interview.

"It seemed they really needed to have their terrorist act covered," Podlesny said. "That's why they were letting some hostages out, to attract more attention."

The situation got much more tense Friday night and early Saturday just before the end of the standoff. One man appeared and claimed to be looking for his son, but no one responded to the name in the theater.

Apparently believing he was a spy, the rebels took the man outside and two shots were heard. He was the second hostage to die, after a woman who was shot by the rebels in the early hours of the crisis.

Half an hour later, another man sitting in the hall stood up and with a bottle in his hand rushed toward a female captor sitting next to a large bomb in the center of the hall. The captors shot him but missed, hitting a woman and a man. The rebels seemed frightened by the incident and asked hostages to call for medical help.

"I think they were afraid that special forces would evaluate that situation as the start of the hostages' execution and begin to storm," Podlesny said.

Sometime later, Podlesny noticed a strange fog began to envelop the theater. He laid down between the theater seats and covered his head with his arms, but still fell asleep — only to awake again when special forces soldiers were dragging him out of the building.

Doctors said almost all the captors were killed, and 116 hostages died from the gas.

Russian officials have refused to identify the gas used, and Podlesny said he didn't receive any special treatment. Doctors gave him smelling salts and ordered him not to fall asleep, so he and a friend tried to keep each other awake.

Podlesny emerged from a hospital Sunday afternoon, one of the earliest to be released.

On Monday, he said he felt fine and that his relatives had been feeding him well and hoped to send him to a resort to recuperate more. But ever the showman, Podlesny hopes to get back on stage soon.

"The show became more important to me and more dear to me, and it's important that we restore the show and it should go on," he said.