All corrections
Wikipedia June 25, 2026 at 05:09 AM

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

3 corrections found

1
Claim
5 August 1999: Shamil Basayev enters western Dagestan from Chechnya, starting the War of Dagestan
Correction

This date is wrong. Credible reports place Basayev’s incursion into Dagestan on August 7, 1999, not August 5.

Full reasoning

Multiple sources date the start of Basayev and Khattab’s incursion into Dagestan to August 7, 1999.

  • TASS reports that the militants participated in the armed rebellion “Between August 7 and August 24, 1999”.
  • Interfax likewise says that “between August 7 and 24, 1999” militants led by Basayev and Khattab attacked Russian servicemen in Dagestan.

Because the article’s chronology says Basayev entered Dagestan on 5 August 1999, the date is off by two days.

2 sources
2
Claim
23 September 1999: An apartment bomb is found in the city of Ryazan.
Correction

The Ryazan device was discovered on the evening of September 22, 1999, not September 23.

Full reasoning

Contemporary reporting places the discovery of the suspicious sacks/device in Ryazan on the night of September 22, 1999.

  • RFE/RL reported from Moscow on 23 September 1999 that police discovered the sacks “last night” in Ryazan.
  • Channel One gave the specific discovery time as 22:10 on Wednesday, i.e. 22 September 1999.

So the chronology entry dating the find to 23 September 1999 is one day late. September 23 was when the incident was being publicly reported and responded to, not when the device was first found.

2 sources
3
Claim
In 2000, investigation of the Buynaksk attack was completed and seven people were convicted of the bombing.
Correction

This sentence is incorrect on both points: the Buynaksk verdict was reported in March 2001, and six defendants were sentenced in that trial, not seven.

Full reasoning

Contemporary coverage of the Buynaksk trial contradicts both parts of this sentence.

  • The verdict was issued in March 2001, not 2000.
  • Six defendants were sentenced in that proceeding, not seven.

The Los Angeles Times reported on March 20, 2001 that two men received life sentences and four other men received lighter sentences. Channel One likewise reported on March 19, 2001 that the trial had ended and described sentences for six defendants.

So this claim misstates both the timing and the number of people convicted in that trial.

2 sources
Model: OPENAI_GPT_5 Prompt: v1.16.0