CHAPTER 2 – THE MASSACRE

Svetlana Zotov, Marine Biologist and survivor of the Zakhaev International Airport Massacre: "It started as a pleasant day, in fact warmer than I remember being used to, even for August. I remember feeling very excited that morning because this was the day I would be traveling to Hong Kong for a six month assignment to study the migratory patterns of Chinese White Dolphins. Because the flight was international, I had to report and check in 4 hours early. Because the check in went a lot faster than I had expected, I had a few hours to spare before my flight boarded, so I decided to do a bit of wandering around. After spending some time watching various flights take off and land, I stopped at a café for a late morning breakfast. I had been sitting for about 15 minutes just observing the masses of people making their way toward their gates, and for some reason I vividly remember seeing a little boy of about 5 or 6 years running toward one of the gates looking so excited, with his parents trying to keep up with him, and it brought a smile to my face. That was the very moment when I heard what sounded like cannons going off from the other end of the airport, near one of the domestic terminals. At first, I had no idea what to think. Was it a bomb? A plane crash? Somebody dropping a crate of heavy equipment? Then immediately I heard the sounds of rapid booms and pops followed by blood curdling screams, and that's when I knew we were under attack. Before I could get a chance to process all of this in my mind, I saw a squad of airport security officers tell us to immediately proceed toward the nearest emergency exit, which was roughly 100 meters from where I was. All I could hear was screaming, and because of the panic, we all became a human traffic jam with everyone pushing and shoving trying to get to the exit. Maybe it was just morbid curiosity, but for a moment I looked behind me and saw 5 men in the distance. They were wearing what looked like tactical body armor and carrying machine guns. I didn't get a good look at their faces, but between gunshots, I could hear them speaking what sounded like perfect American English, which caused immediate alarm in my mind, especially seeing as how the Americans had not been friendly with us since the end of the Civil War. But I didn't have time to think about that at the moment. I just wanted to get out of there. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made it to the exit, where I saw a whole army of police, firefighters, and paramedics. I saw bodies being loaded into ambulances, some were even in body bags. Blood was all over the ground. I think I even saw a severed arm, I don't know. I don't care to think about it.

After about an hour, it was announced that all flights had been cancelled, and we would have to remain at the airport until it was declared safe to return to our homes. Until then, I tried my best to stay calm and comfort those around me, especially the children, who were completely frightened. One little girl kept calling for her mother: "Mommy…Mommy where are you? I can't find you! Can you see me? Mommy where are you?" The poor child later found out that her mother had been killed by the attackers. Luckily, her father was supposed to meet them at the airport, and had been delayed in traffic when the attack started, so at least he was able to be there for her and not make the poor little girl an orphan. Her father had tears in his eyes when he broke the news to his daughter. She was strong, stronger than I ever could have been, but they both cried and just held each other. That sight more than any other is what suddenly caused me to burst into tears, as if all the emotion, fear, and distress had finally come bursting out of me. I sobbed uncontrollably for what felt like hours, time seemed to just freeze. Finally I was able to calm myself down, and it was then that I could hear sporadic conversations among the crowd, mostly wondering who the perpetrators were and why they had done such a thing. Some blamed Chechen rebels, others blamed ISIS, Al-Qaeda, even Chinese Special Forces…none of which made sense to me considering what I had heard. Then my suspicions were confirmed when I saw an older man come running up to us shouting, "The police found a body! Americans! They were American soldiers! They were speaking English and they had American military uniforms and weapons! Bastards! Murderers!" I turned pale and immediately felt ill. Then, I felt anger…an anger more intense than anything I'd felt in my life. Why? Why had they done this to us? What had these people done to them? I had always heard about how America didn't do those kinds of things to people, but at that very moment I remember thinking they were just savages who wanted to control everyone to do things their way, by their rules. I had always been apolitical my whole life, but that day...I became an ultranationalist. I wanted revenge."

Thomas Rourke, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Rutgers University, New Jersey: "I had just returned from a global economics conference in Tokyo when I saw the news alert on my phone, big bold letters – "MASS SHOOTING AT MOSCOW AIRPORT – US MILITARY IMPLICATED." I have to be honest with you, I thought maybe it was a satirical headline because something like that is just so unheard of that you can't help but react with anything but skepticism. The US attacking an airport and indiscriminately killing civilians? It sounds ridiculous even saying it out loud. Granted, knowing what we know now, it makes sense in a very macabre way. But at the time, it was just a plain ridiculous to think the US could or would pull off a stunt like that. I had long been a critic of American foreign policy, but even I couldn't fathom the US ever doing something like this – essentially a Columbine style massacre sanctioned by the US government and carried out by US military personnel against a foreign nation, and Russia, of all places. I immediately called a friend of mine who had been to Moscow recently, and he confirmed my worst fears. So it was true – the United States government had authorized and subsequently carried out a senseless massacre of Russian and other foreign civilians, on Russian soil…at least, that's what I thought at the time. I then remember having this overwhelming feeling of panic as everything I had read and seen on the news over the previous months about Russian attempts to hack into NORAD and Pentagon cyber defense systems suddenly came to the forefront of my mind. Combine that with the fact that the massacre was sure to trigger a demand from Russian citizens to have their government declare war, and I think that moment was the closest I had ever come to a heart attack. The fear was that real. I immediately called my wife at work and told her to come home as soon as possible. When she asked what was wrong, all I could say was, "I have a feeling the real question soon will be…what won't be wrong?"

Alexei Zakharchenko, Paramedic at Zakhaev International Airport: "We were the first team to receive the call to Zakhaev Airport. At first, I didn't think it was serious. We took calls to the airport all the time for various reasons – someone falling ill, fainting, extreme dehydration from air sickness, things like that. I was totally taken aback when we arrived on scene at the airport. Bodies were everywhere from the boarding gates to the tarmac to the various restaurants and shops inside. The carnage was indescribable, so forgive me if I struggle to discuss everything, but I will try. There were so many bodies strewn about that for a second my teammates and I didn't even know where to start. My Captain, and I give him the utmost respect for this, he stayed calm and had us tend to the most seriously wounded first. As other teams arrived, we worked quickly to load the wounded…or at least those we deemed as having the highest chance of being saved or resuscitated. We worked for what felt like hours, loading bodies, tending to the wounded, trying to calm those so hysterical and crying for their mothers, their husbands and wives. A few of the younger guys got sick and threw up all over when they saw the blood, the bodies lying lifeless, some even having missing limbs or eviscerated midsections. Others broke down crying, much like the cries and screams of the crowds gathered outside. I made my way to the gate at the far north end of the airport, and that's when I saw something that will haunt me for the rest of my life – It was an elderly couple, I had known them well. I grew up right down the street from them as a child and had helped them with various household chores. They were lying on the ground…the old man…he…he was lying on his wife, trying to protect her. Lying next to them was a little girl, no older than 9 or 10…lying on her back, shot at least 5 or 6 times. Her eyes and mouth were wide open, as if her expression of terror was permanently captured. It was as if Beslan had repeated itself right in the heart of our nation.

I've been a paramedic for 20 years, so I've seen my fair share of gruesome injuries, but that day…that sight…(he briefly pauses and stares blankly into the ether as if trying to collect himself)…I still have nightmares about the things I saw that day, and probably always will. It was so bad that I felt catatonic the whole next day. I couldn't speak, I couldn't eat, I couldn't even sleep. All I could do was think about what I had seen and then wonder why. Why had this happened? Why those people? What had they done to deserve such a thing? When the news reports started to come in stating that the American military had committed the attacks with the approval of their government, I was dumbfounded. Of course now that the facts have since gone public, I realize that the American government wasn't necessarily to blame, but at the time I didn't know. None of us did. I just couldn't help but wonder what had made the Americans so mad at us. It just didn't register at first. I had been to America before, and I loved the people there. It just didn't make sense that they would elect leaders who were capable and willing to commit such atrocities against innocent civilians. That's when I went from shock and sadness to anger. I knew relations between Russia and America were not good, but for them to do something like this was just an abomination, to be honest. I remember thinking that the Americans had turned the place into a warzone. Little did I know just how prophetic those thoughts would be. If the Americans wanted war, then Russia would give them one."

Jonathan Doyle, American Exchange Student from the University of California: "I had been selected to study abroad in Russia at the University of St. Petersburg for a year, and I was super excited. I remember I couldn't wait to go. I don't think I slept for about two days before the trip (laughs). Sure, I was nervous, but it had always been a childhood dream of mine to travel the world, and I felt this would be a great first taste of the world around me. Since my mother was Russian, my grandparents had come here in the 1960's, and since I grew up hearing both English and Russian in our house, I figured what better place to start than Russia? I'd always wanted to visit and learn more about my family, so hey why not? It was true that relations between the US and Russia had deteriorated quite a bit since Boris Vorshevsky's election, but there had been somewhat of an easing of tensions when he (Vorshevsky) reached out to the United States and tried to assure us that he had no aggressive aims toward the West or Europe. One of the first steps taken by the US and Russia was the permission of students in both countries to study abroad…Americans in Russia, and vice versa. But that's a whole different issue. Anyway, despite our governments' mistrust of each other, I have to honestly say that I absolutely loved the Russian people. They seemed to understand the difference between the American people and the American government, or at least for the moment they did. Everyone was very friendly and helpful to me when I first arrived, and it was genuine, you could tell. They weren't putting on some façade out of obligation, but rather genuine concern for my well-being. They also seemed to have a pride and love for their nation rivaling that of the most fervent patriots back home in the US. The Russian people seemed eager to show off everything their country had to offer to me. It seemed like genuine comradery.

Then…then the massacre happened, and just like that (he snaps his fingers), everything changed. Literally, overnight. People avoided me like the plague, and eventually that cold shoulder treatment turned to outright hostility. When I first arrived, people told me "Dobro pozhalovat', moy drug," meaning "welcome, my friend." Now, they called me "svin'ya (pig)," "varvar (barbarian)," or "suka (bitch)." As if the name calling weren't enough, then they started smearing food on the door to my room, burned American flags in front of me, made fun of me, that kind of thing. But then the harassment immediately escalated to threats. I remember that night, a note was slipped under my door. All it said was "Russia is going to destroy America. You will be the first casualty. Say goodbye to your family. Better look behind you from now on" in big bold typed letters. I didn't even bother trying to sleep, I was so terrified. I knew by this point there would be no reasoning with them, and I just sat silently all night, staring at my door, waiting for it to be kicked in and broken down by pissed off mobs. I didn't have anything to do with what happened, but there was nothing I could do about it, and I'd have been downright stupid to try and fight or argue with them because I was in a foreign country that would soon be at war with my homeland, and I was far outnumbered by angry Russians just itching for an excuse to bury me. The nation was traumatized. Anything and everything American was considered filthy and treasonous. Now I know what it must have felt like for Arab or Muslim Americans right after 9/11. The next morning, the Russian government voted overwhelmingly to sever relations with the US, and President Vorshevsky ordered all American citizens out of Russia within 24 hours as well as appealing to Russian citizens in America to "come back home and unite with your fellow Russian comrades." At about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, I received a phone call from a representative of the US Consulate in Moscow and told to proceed to St. Petersburg Airport, where I would be flown back to my hometown in (censored). I remember leaving that morning feeling like I was going to be swarmed by angry citizens and strung up right there in the quad, but it was eerily silent. I caught a cab to the airport, and spoke Russian in the most authentic accent I could muster so the driver wouldn't know I was an American. Once I got home, my parents couldn't stop hugging me and praising god that I was alright. That feeling of relief would not last long at all."

Marie Le Blanc, Small Business Owner in Paris, France: "A friend of mine came running up to me in a panic while I was outside my shop having my morning coffee and a cigarette. She looked like someone had stepped over her grave. When I asked her what was wrong, she simply hurried me inside my shop and repeatedly urged me to turn on the radio, and that was when I heard the news – mass shooting at a Moscow Airport, hundreds dead and wounded in a coordinated attack, United States government and military implicated. I felt numb all over immediately. The attack was a completely horrific tragedy, for innocent people to be so mercilessly attacked and killed for no good reason. It was even more grotesque that the attack was carried out by the American military, and more grotesque still that the attack seemed to have been ordered and supported by the American government. This only seemed to reinforce the already prevalent attitude among Europeans that America had finally lost its mind and gone much too far. It was bad enough what they had done in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and Afghanistan…but, I don't know…I guess at least they were trying to go after the terrorists, or so they claimed. But this was different. This was a deliberate all-out attack on innocent civilians, not military, and not collateral damage. It was something we had always been told that only Muslim terrorists did. Liberal democracies didn't behave like that.

I immediately remembered how (Jacques) Chirac had criticized America back in 2002 when the Americans wanted to go to war in Iraq, and how mad the Americans became, and wondered now if they may do anything similar to us. But on the other hand, what scared my friend and I more than anything was what the Russian reaction might be. After all, they were sitting on the largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world, and we were only a stone's throw away in nuclear terms. And the Russians knew very well who the American allies were, and we knew that the threat was real. Boris Vorshevsky may have claimed to be a moderate, but he was still an ultranationalist, and much more extreme than even the most fringe elements of the mainstream Russian political parties who had held power previously. In the Russians' eyes, we were guilty by association, no matter how much our own government tried to plead for calm and assert that we had no knowledge of the attack and did not support it by any means. Offers of a joint investigation were promptly rejected by the Russians, not just from us, but from every government. We didn't know who to trust or fear at that point. Both sides seemed out of their minds and ready to fight to the death, no matter who got in the way. I hate to admit this, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit angry at the Americans and found myself blaming them as well. After all, they continuously claimed to be for peace and democracy, while at the same time dropping bombs and invading other countries for over a decade straight, maybe even longer. Now, the Americans had tried to push around a country that was more than capable of pushing back, and we were all in striking distance of both sides. That's when I really got scared."