- Title: RUSSIA: BOMB EXPLODES AT THE RUSSIAN NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PARTY OFFICES
- Date: 5th December 1995
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 5, 1995) (RTV (W) - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV EXTERIOR OF RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING 0.04 2. SV VARIOUS VIEWS OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY BLAST ON SEVENTH FLOOR 0.18 3. SV INTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT HALLWAY; REPORTERS AND POLICE 0.28 4. SCU NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PARTY LEADER NIKOLAI LYSENKO SPEAKING ABOUT BLAST
- Embargoed: 20th December 1995 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City:
- Country: Russia
- Reuters ID: LVA7HPLXAOP5RPF8OMRCUTUMZN9C
- Story Text: A mysterious explosion in the office of a Russian ultra-nationalist deputy on Tuesday (December 5) heightened fears of violence disrupting an election to the lower chamber of parliament in less than two weeks time.
No-one was hurt in a blast which blew out the door and window in the office of National Reoublican Party leader Nikolai Lysenko in the parliament building near the Kremlin.
Lysenko had left his seventh-floor office minutes before the blast.
Officials refused to give any indication of what had caused the explosion before the end of an official investigation.
Lysenko, whose party is contesting the election, called the explosion an assassination attempt by the "Caucasian mafia" or a Turkish lobby in the region.
He did not specify who he meant by "Caucasian mafia" but appeared to be referring to gangs operating from Chechnya and neighbouring regions.
Lysenko is a supporter of military action to smash Chechnya's four-year-old independence drive and an advocate of curbing the rights of certain ethnic groups, including some in Chechnya. He blames them for much of the crime in Russia.
Senior officials of the State Duma or lower house of parliament said they were worried that violence could mar the election to the chamber on December 17.
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