When an explosive device detonated underneath one of the carriages of the Nevsky Express, that was travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg, three of the last carriages derailed, killing at least 26 and leaving over 100 people hurt. As 20 people remain unaccounted for and many of those hospitalised are still in critical condition, the investigation committee is offering first clues. Currently the main suspect is a former military academy student, Pavel Kosolapov, who allegedly joined underground militants in the North Caucasus in the late 90s and had since carried out a number of attacks that involve explosives.
Pavel Kosolapov was expelled from a military academy and, still holding grudges, had soon started dating a Chechen girl. The girl, in turn, introduced him to her family and friends and soon aspiring army man was talking to Shamil Basayev, Russia’s Osama Bin Laden. Since then the FSB (Federal Security Bureau) claimed that he has converted to Islam, while other sources say that he never has and is still called by his Russian name. It has also been said that he moved to Chechnya, where he was trained in training camps run by Arabs. Allegedly, Basayev soon decided to start using Kosolapov for preparing and carrying out terrorist attacks in central Russia as his Slavic looks meant he wouldn’t stand out. At least two attacks in 2004 are believed to be his doing: an explosion on the Moscow subway in February that killed 42 people and another one in march at a marketplace in Samara which took lives of 11 people. The same year Kosolapov was placed on Russia’s most wanted list but the hunt for him to this day resulted in nothing. The reason his name is being discussed now is the bombing of the train on exactly the same route carried out on the 13th of August 2007. Only by miracle no one was hurt that time. Kosolapov has a signature style evident in last Friday’s bombing.
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