1.
This section of the report was written on the basis of interviews with
three independent groups of witnesses and participants in the events. These
three sources were questioned soon after the events took place in separate
locations and at different times. They include: 1) the medical personnel
of Municipal Hospital No. 9 in Grozny; 2) former hostage-patients in Samashki;
and 3) H. Khachukaev and soldiers from his unit in Grozny. The information
gained from the interviews painted a complete and uncontradictory picture.
A. Babitskii and H. Raduev of French Press and Radio Liberty were the first
correspondents to report on the occupation of the local hospital.