2006 Volkgoroda bombings

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2006 Volkgoroda bombings
Part of terrorism in Volkia
Location	Volkgoroda, Volkia
Date	November 18, 2006 (2006-11-18) 7:02 - 7:08 p.m. (VST)
Target	Civilians
Attack type	Suicide bombings
Weapons	IEDs
Deaths	132 (including 4 perpetrators)
Injured	362 (including one perpetrator)
Assailants	Vanya Tereshchenko Vlasiy Volodin Dmitry Bychkov Iosif Knyazev Kostya Kuzmin Isidor Koshkin

The 2006 Volkgoroda bombings, referred to colloquially as 11/18 or November 18, were a series of coordinated suicide attacks in Volkgoroda, Volkia, that targeted civilians in Stefan Gurkovsky Square who were attending the Autumn Festival Market. The attacks caused the death of 128 civilians and injured 361, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Volkian history.

Four homemade bombs were detonated almost simultaneously within Stefan Gurkovsky Square and in neighboring metro station. Two additional bombs were set to detonate; the first one malfunctioned and injured the bomber, Kostya Kuzmin, while the second failed to explode.

The official police investigation found that the attacks were orchestrated by members of the religious doomsday cult Yarkiye and masterminded by its founder, Lukyan Yolkin. Yolkin, the failed bombers, and several other members of Yarkiye were convicted for their roles in the attacks. Yolkin and two other high ranking Yarkiye members received the death penalty, while the failed bombers received life imprisonment with no parole due to their cooperation with investigators.

The explosions were caused by triacetone triperoxide IEDs packed into suicide vests.

Background

Lukyan Yolkin founded Yarkiye in early 1994 with some members of his former Lunarist church in Kholpolya and began meeting in an office building in Repyovka. Yolkin and his followers progessively radicalized over the years, believing the end of days was nearing. Yarkiye was reportedly put under surveillance several times between 2001 and 2003 with no evidence of illegal activity turning up.

In 2004 three members of Yarkiye were arrested and convicted for possession of firearms which brought further attention to the group. A mass shooting later that year killed 15 civilians and was carried out by a Yarkiye member, who was killed by police. The group denied any planning but expressed sympathy to the victims, with an official statement saying the group hopes the victims "found Her Eternal Light." It was suspected the leadership of Yarkiye masterminded the attack but no official connection was found.

Yarkiye members were involved in at least two more incidents resulting in mass casualties prior to the bombing, but again investigators were unable to link the group's leadership with the perpetrators. A grand jury issued a subpoena for documents relating to these mass casualty incidents and Yarkiye offices were raided by agents from the Federal Investigative Agency in October 2006. It is believed these raids may have hastened the bombings; documents recovered in later police raids revealed the cult's original target was the Winter Solstice Festival in Volkgoroda.

Attacks

Timeline of attacks

November 18:

• 21:16 –
• 21:19 –
• 21:25 –
• 21:32 –
• 21:36 –
• 21:40 –
• 21:40 –
• 21:53 –
• 22:00 –

All times are VST (UTC+5).

There were two successful coordinated attacks: two bombs at Stefan Gurkovsky Square and two within the nearby Metro station. A third attack by two additional suicide bombers intended to target first responders failed.

Effects and response

	Volkian Federative Republic
Main article: Volkia
Important Topics: Culture ♦ Lupine ♦ Volkian language ♦ Lunarism ♦ Volkian korona ♦ Defense Forces
Government: Federal Government ♦ President ♦ Cabinet ♦ National Assembly ♦ Federal Supreme Court ♦ Political Parties
History: Grand Principality of Volkia ♦ Duchy of Volkia ♦ Kingdom of Volkia ♦ Volkian Civil War ♦ Northern Revolt ♦ Volkian Revolution
Important Figures (Past and Present): Yuliya Surkova ♦ Aleksey Pushkarev ♦ Stefan Gurkovsky ♦ Ivan Ogarkov ♦ Vasily Tolmachyov ♦ Yulian Lebedev