GROZNY -- Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was killed when a bomb encased in the concrete platform of a Grozny stadium exploded during Victory Day celebrations. Officials said Monday that the attack appeared to have been planned by someone in Kadyrov's inner circle.
The explosion "was prepared specifically for the president and by someone in his retinue," a source in the Chechen Interior Ministry said.
Kadyrov had planned to skip Sunday's festivities at the Dynamo stadium for a visit to Moscow, but "he changed his plans later, and not everybody knew about that," the source said.
Chechen Security Council chief Rudnik Dudayev also said that Kadyrov had not intended to be at the stadium.
He said that Kadyrov, the target of at least 15 assassination attempts since 2000, was the specific target of Sunday's attack, Interfax reported.
The bomb, which contained the equivalent of 1 kilogram of TNT, went off moments after Kadyrov, 52, made a Victory Day speech in the crowded stadium.
The device -- a converted artillery shell -- was encased in the concrete frames holding the VIP podium and was apparently detonated by a built-in timer or by wiring that was hidden under plaster, said Gennady Semashkin, a bomb expert who investigated the blast scene.
"It would have been next to impossible to find that explosive device with metal detectors or sniffer dogs," he said.
The Interior Ministry source said the attackers' decision not to detonate the bomb by remote control -- a standard practice in Chechen attacks -- was an indication that they were well-informed about the level of security at the stadium.
Detonation by remote control would have been impossible because the stadium had special equipment to jam radio signals, and the perpetrators knew this "secret information," the source said.
Deputy Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said the bomb was planted long before Sunday, but "some of the preparations" for the bombing were made shortly before it went off. He did not elaborate.
The stadium had been closed for renovations for three months and reopened for Victory Day.
Fridinsky suggested that whoever planned the explosion had help from someone with access to the stadium, saying that the level of security meant "an outsider could not have come and set off an explosive device."
No suspects have been identified, and no one has been detained in connection with the attack, he said.
It was unclear how many people were killed in the explosion, with reports putting the number at anywhere from six to 32, with about 50 injured.
Among those confirmed dead were Chechen State Council chief Khusein Isayev, Reuters photographer Adlan Khasanov, two of Kadyrov's bodyguards and an 8-year-old girl.
The commander of the federal forces in Chechnya, Colonel General Valery Baranov, was badly injured, and his leg was amputated in an emergency operation, the presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, Vladimir Yakovlev, said Monday.
Yakovlev said six people died in the attack -- two on the spot and four in the hospital, including Kadyrov, who died without regaining consciousness. He said 57 people were injured.
Chechen Health Minister Musa Akhmadov agreed with those figures and said 15 people remained hospitalized Monday.
But Gazeta, citing Grozny hospital records, said 24 people were killed and 46 injured. The Chechen Interior Ministry put the death toll at 32 and number of injured at 46.
Under the Chechen constitution, Prime Minister Sergei Abramov will be the acting president until an early presidential election can be held, which has to be by Sept. 9.
Abramov on Monday appointed Kadyrov's son Ramzan as first deputy prime minister and Taus Dzhabrailov as deputy prime minister. The younger Kadyrov had headed his father's personal security detail, and it was unclear whether he would retain that position. Dzhabrailov was Chechnya's minister for nationalities, information and external relations.
Mikhail Pankov, head of the Russian Interior Ministry's branch in the Southern Federal District, has been appointed commander of the federal forces in Chechnya, replacing Baranov. Pankov told an emergency meeting in Grozny on Monday that he has ordered the military and police to beef up security efforts.
Deputy Interior Minister Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, who is heading the investigation into the blast, told NTV that an army reserve unit is on standby to enter Chechnya should "an unpleasant situation develop."
During a sweep of the blast site, police found another artillery shell bomb and a bottle packed with plastic explosives, both of which apparently failed to detonate, Fridinsky said.
The bottle was not covered in the dust that fell on everything after the explosion, suggesting that it was dropped by someone after the attack, NTV reported.
The United States, China and Turkey, among other countries, condemned the bombing.
Several State Duma deputies suggested that someone trusted by Kadyrov's administration or connected to Ramzan Kadyrov's security force was behind the bombing. Many members of the security force are former rebels.
Akhmad Kadyrov himself is a former rebel who fought against federal forces in the first Chechen war. He switched sides at the onset of the second war in 1999.
Duma Deputy Alexei Ostrovsky said the attack may be connected to a dispute over money sent from Moscow to rebuild Chechnya's economy, which he said is much more than the budgets of a number of other regions.
Dzhabrailov, who suffered minor injuries in the blast, pointed the finger at rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov and warlord Shamil Basayev. "I think only they could have planned an explosion at such a solemn event," he told Interfax. Maskhadov served in the Soviet army and "knows what May 9, Victory Day, means for Russia," he said.
In 2002, a blast ripped through a Victory Day parade in Kaspiisk, Dagestan, killing 45 people. Authorities have blamed that attack on Rappani Khalilov, a rebel warlord of Dagestani origin who was killed last May in fighting in Chechnya.
Maskhadov, who has called Kadyrov a traitor for teaming up with Moscow, condemned his assassination in a statement posted by the rebel web site Chechen Press. Maskhadov said he suspected the attack was staged by Russian security services "to liquidate a marionette government" unable to resolve the Chechen conflict.
Kadyrov was buried in his native village, Tsentoroi, under tight security Monday.
The explosion "was prepared specifically for the president and by someone in his retinue," a source in the Chechen Interior Ministry said.
Kadyrov had planned to skip Sunday's festivities at the Dynamo stadium for a visit to Moscow, but "he changed his plans later, and not everybody knew about that," the source said.
Chechen Security Council chief Rudnik Dudayev also said that Kadyrov had not intended to be at the stadium.
He said that Kadyrov, the target of at least 15 assassination attempts since 2000, was the specific target of Sunday's attack, Interfax reported.
The bomb, which contained the equivalent of 1 kilogram of TNT, went off moments after Kadyrov, 52, made a Victory Day speech in the crowded stadium.
The device -- a converted artillery shell -- was encased in the concrete frames holding the VIP podium and was apparently detonated by a built-in timer or by wiring that was hidden under plaster, said Gennady Semashkin, a bomb expert who investigated the blast scene.
"It would have been next to impossible to find that explosive device with metal detectors or sniffer dogs," he said.
The Interior Ministry source said the attackers' decision not to detonate the bomb by remote control -- a standard practice in Chechen attacks -- was an indication that they were well-informed about the level of security at the stadium.
Detonation by remote control would have been impossible because the stadium had special equipment to jam radio signals, and the perpetrators knew this "secret information," the source said.
Deputy Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said the bomb was planted long before Sunday, but "some of the preparations" for the bombing were made shortly before it went off. He did not elaborate.
The stadium had been closed for renovations for three months and reopened for Victory Day.
Fridinsky suggested that whoever planned the explosion had help from someone with access to the stadium, saying that the level of security meant "an outsider could not have come and set off an explosive device."
No suspects have been identified, and no one has been detained in connection with the attack, he said.
It was unclear how many people were killed in the explosion, with reports putting the number at anywhere from six to 32, with about 50 injured.
Among those confirmed dead were Chechen State Council chief Khusein Isayev, Reuters photographer Adlan Khasanov, two of Kadyrov's bodyguards and an 8-year-old girl.
The commander of the federal forces in Chechnya, Colonel General Valery Baranov, was badly injured, and his leg was amputated in an emergency operation, the presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, Vladimir Yakovlev, said Monday.
Yakovlev said six people died in the attack -- two on the spot and four in the hospital, including Kadyrov, who died without regaining consciousness. He said 57 people were injured.
Chechen Health Minister Musa Akhmadov agreed with those figures and said 15 people remained hospitalized Monday.
 Musa Sadulayev / AP Baranov, left, Kadyrov and Isayev talking in the VIP section minutes before the blast. |  |
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Under the Chechen constitution, Prime Minister Sergei Abramov will be the acting president until an early presidential election can be held, which has to be by Sept. 9.
Abramov on Monday appointed Kadyrov's son Ramzan as first deputy prime minister and Taus Dzhabrailov as deputy prime minister. The younger Kadyrov had headed his father's personal security detail, and it was unclear whether he would retain that position. Dzhabrailov was Chechnya's minister for nationalities, information and external relations.
Mikhail Pankov, head of the Russian Interior Ministry's branch in the Southern Federal District, has been appointed commander of the federal forces in Chechnya, replacing Baranov. Pankov told an emergency meeting in Grozny on Monday that he has ordered the military and police to beef up security efforts.
Deputy Interior Minister Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, who is heading the investigation into the blast, told NTV that an army reserve unit is on standby to enter Chechnya should "an unpleasant situation develop."
During a sweep of the blast site, police found another artillery shell bomb and a bottle packed with plastic explosives, both of which apparently failed to detonate, Fridinsky said.
The bottle was not covered in the dust that fell on everything after the explosion, suggesting that it was dropped by someone after the attack, NTV reported.
The United States, China and Turkey, among other countries, condemned the bombing.
Several State Duma deputies suggested that someone trusted by Kadyrov's administration or connected to Ramzan Kadyrov's security force was behind the bombing. Many members of the security force are former rebels.
Akhmad Kadyrov himself is a former rebel who fought against federal forces in the first Chechen war. He switched sides at the onset of the second war in 1999.
Duma Deputy Alexei Ostrovsky said the attack may be connected to a dispute over money sent from Moscow to rebuild Chechnya's economy, which he said is much more than the budgets of a number of other regions.
Dzhabrailov, who suffered minor injuries in the blast, pointed the finger at rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov and warlord Shamil Basayev. "I think only they could have planned an explosion at such a solemn event," he told Interfax. Maskhadov served in the Soviet army and "knows what May 9, Victory Day, means for Russia," he said.
In 2002, a blast ripped through a Victory Day parade in Kaspiisk, Dagestan, killing 45 people. Authorities have blamed that attack on Rappani Khalilov, a rebel warlord of Dagestani origin who was killed last May in fighting in Chechnya.
Maskhadov, who has called Kadyrov a traitor for teaming up with Moscow, condemned his assassination in a statement posted by the rebel web site Chechen Press. Maskhadov said he suspected the attack was staged by Russian security services "to liquidate a marionette government" unable to resolve the Chechen conflict.
Kadyrov was buried in his native village, Tsentoroi, under tight security Monday.