While the massive power outage last week in Moscow has been blamed on decaying and old infrastructure and an investigation is pending by the prosecutor’s office, there is a new claim to the cause of the black-out. The most wanted man in Russia, Chechen Rebel leader, Shamil Basayev (Intel Report), has claimed that Chechen Rebels attacked an electrical sub-station and were responsible for the power outage that crippled the Russian capital and brought transportation systems to a standstill, among causing other inconveniences. Thus far, Russian authorities have not responded directly to these claims, although they claimed the blackout was not, in fact, caused by sabotage. The immediate cause, according to Russian authorities, was an explosion and a fire at an electricity sub-station. The explosion and fire at the 40-year old sub-station had cascading effects on other parts of the system. The head of Unified Energy Systems, Anatoly Chubais, is currently in the proverbial hotseat for the failure, although many observers contend that the primary reason for the black-out is simply old and worn-out infrastructure.

Is there any credence to Basayev?s grandiose claims of causing the black-out, or is it simply a case of inadequate infrastructure? There is some precedent and motivation for a terrorist organization to claim that they have the power to disrupt a country?s major infrastructure. When a major power outage hit the East Coast of the United States in August of 2003 (there was also a similar outage in London later), the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades took credit for the event, even though the black-out occurred naturally — not as a result of a terrorist attack. This rather shadowy group was rather quickly discounted because of its habit of taking credit for terrorist attacks it did not perpetrate. Terrorist groups taking credit for attacks is not new. The motivation to do so stems from wanting to be seen as more active and potent than they truly are. Basayev, on the other hand, usually has not bluffed about his activities. Further, he has threatened more attacks to come until Moscow withdraws from Chechnya. Yet, after a series of spectacular attacks last summer by Chechen terrorists, it seems that the Russian government has been gaining the upper hand with the killing of Chechen Rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov and the recent uncovering of explosives and poisonous materials before the Victory Day celebrations. So, it is possible that Basayev wants to show that Chechen Rebels are still a potent force.