A stray rocket shattered the double glass of Natalya Markina's ninth-floor kitchen window as she and her family were ringing in 2005. It then exploded, completely destroying the table laid out with the traditional holiday meal.
Minutes later, two men knocked on Markina's door, saying their children had launched the rocket in the courtyard and asked whether anyone had been hurt. They apologized and paid for the damage, Markina said.
"We were in shock. Thank God no one suffered a scratch," she said.
It's that time of the year when Moscow residents are stocking up on rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks in anticipation of welcoming the New Year with a bang.
Police are making the usual extra effort to confiscate illegally made fireworks from unlicensed producers and merchants -- even as accidents mounted before the start of festivities.
Three men were killed and two others were injured while making fireworks in a private garage last week.
Also, Mayor Yury Luzhkov suffered a head injury when a firework hit him as he and some friends were lighting fireworks.
Luzhkov attended a meeting of the State Council in the Kremlin on Monday with a noticeable burn on his bald head. Asked by reporters how he had hurt himself, Luzhkov joked that he had been the target of a contract hit, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported Wednesday.
He later confided to a regional governor at the meeting that fireworks were to blame. "We were setting off fireworks, and one of the stupid things did not burn to the end and hit my head," he said, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.
Luzhkov's spokesman, Sergei Tsoi, refused to comment on the injury Thursday.
About 100 Moscow residents were injured in firework-related accidents during last New Year's celebrations.
Police last week kicked off a nationwide operation to seize fake fireworks before they end up in the hands of pyrotechnics lovers.
Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said 67,000 unlicensed fireworks worth 5.5 million rubles ($193,000) had been confiscated by Moscow region police alone in the first three weeks of December, Interfax reported.
Some $100 million in illegal fireworks were sold nationwide last year, according to Interior Ministry statistics.
Viktor Samoshin, general director of leading fireworks maker Bolshoi Prazdnik, said illegal merchandise typically accounted for about half of all fireworks sold in recent years.
"This year, it should decrease to 10 percent in Moscow, but in other regions, mainly in the southern parts of Russia, the market share of fakes is very considerable," Samoshin said.
Fireworks, of course, do not have to be fake to inflict serious injury and damage. People often do not bother to read the safety instructions and end up injuring themselves or their neighbors, Samoshin said.
That might have been the case for Olga Frolova, a grandmother whose apartment was set on fire by a stray rocket on New Year's Eve 2000.
Her dog and cat were alone in the apartment at the time, and they perished in the flames.
"You know, I felt so bad about it for months," said her granddaughter Yelena Frolova, a manager in the Moscow publishing industry.
She said neighbors had seen two unidentified teenagers launch the rocket, but the boys had fled. The grandmother's belongings burned to ashes before firefighters arrived.
"If it depended on me, I would ban fireworks all together, but I understand that it is a big business and no one would dare to interfere," Frolova said.
Moscow city authorities usually come up with a plan to ban unlicensed fireworks every holiday season, and the City Duma tends to propose draconian fines for offenders.
Luzhkov, however, promised in televised remarks that he would not ban Muscovites from setting off fireworks during the New Year.
"We will not ban Muscovites from using fireworks, but it is important to teach them how to handle them right," Luzhkov said on TV Center television on Dec. 13 -- two weeks before he learned first-hand how not to handle fireworks.
Minutes later, two men knocked on Markina's door, saying their children had launched the rocket in the courtyard and asked whether anyone had been hurt. They apologized and paid for the damage, Markina said.
"We were in shock. Thank God no one suffered a scratch," she said.
It's that time of the year when Moscow residents are stocking up on rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks in anticipation of welcoming the New Year with a bang.
Police are making the usual extra effort to confiscate illegally made fireworks from unlicensed producers and merchants -- even as accidents mounted before the start of festivities.
Three men were killed and two others were injured while making fireworks in a private garage last week.
Also, Mayor Yury Luzhkov suffered a head injury when a firework hit him as he and some friends were lighting fireworks.
Luzhkov attended a meeting of the State Council in the Kremlin on Monday with a noticeable burn on his bald head. Asked by reporters how he had hurt himself, Luzhkov joked that he had been the target of a contract hit, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported Wednesday.
He later confided to a regional governor at the meeting that fireworks were to blame. "We were setting off fireworks, and one of the stupid things did not burn to the end and hit my head," he said, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.
Luzhkov's spokesman, Sergei Tsoi, refused to comment on the injury Thursday.
About 100 Moscow residents were injured in firework-related accidents during last New Year's celebrations.
Police last week kicked off a nationwide operation to seize fake fireworks before they end up in the hands of pyrotechnics lovers.
Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said 67,000 unlicensed fireworks worth 5.5 million rubles ($193,000) had been confiscated by Moscow region police alone in the first three weeks of December, Interfax reported.
Some $100 million in illegal fireworks were sold nationwide last year, according to Interior Ministry statistics.
Viktor Samoshin, general director of leading fireworks maker Bolshoi Prazdnik, said illegal merchandise typically accounted for about half of all fireworks sold in recent years.
"This year, it should decrease to 10 percent in Moscow, but in other regions, mainly in the southern parts of Russia, the market share of fakes is very considerable," Samoshin said.
Fireworks, of course, do not have to be fake to inflict serious injury and damage. People often do not bother to read the safety instructions and end up injuring themselves or their neighbors, Samoshin said.
That might have been the case for Olga Frolova, a grandmother whose apartment was set on fire by a stray rocket on New Year's Eve 2000.
Her dog and cat were alone in the apartment at the time, and they perished in the flames.
"You know, I felt so bad about it for months," said her granddaughter Yelena Frolova, a manager in the Moscow publishing industry.
She said neighbors had seen two unidentified teenagers launch the rocket, but the boys had fled. The grandmother's belongings burned to ashes before firefighters arrived.
"If it depended on me, I would ban fireworks all together, but I understand that it is a big business and no one would dare to interfere," Frolova said.
Moscow city authorities usually come up with a plan to ban unlicensed fireworks every holiday season, and the City Duma tends to propose draconian fines for offenders.
Luzhkov, however, promised in televised remarks that he would not ban Muscovites from setting off fireworks during the New Year.
"We will not ban Muscovites from using fireworks, but it is important to teach them how to handle them right," Luzhkov said on TV Center television on Dec. 13 -- two weeks before he learned first-hand how not to handle fireworks.