Shadow Theatre 2005 On 23 October 2002, the Theatre Centre in Dubrovka, Moscow became the focus of media attention during a sold out performance of Nord Ost, a romantic musical spanning the Russian revolution, World War II and the siege of Leningrad. At the beginning of Act II, 40 armed Chechen rebels seized the former Palace of Culture of the state ball-bearing factory taking 700 hostages and demanding that Russia end the war in Chechnya. After a two and a half day siege special forces stormed the building after releasing an aerosol anaesthetic into the theatre. During the siege and in the immediate aftermath most of the rebels were killed along with 128 hostages.