Moscow Apartment bombings: False flag? (Hate that term)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Let me preface my post by saying I’m not a conspiracy guy by any stretch of the imagination. I tend to believe that things are what they seem to be.
That being said, I recently have taken an interest in learning more about Russia’s misadventures in Chechnya and in doing so I was led to a couple documentaries about the Moscow apartment bombings in '99 and I have to say it (the official Russian government explanation) seems a little hinky to me.

Recap as i understand it: Apartments in Moscow were bombed causing casualties and mass panic yet no persons or groups claimed responsibility. Then, witnesses see a group of people planting what turns out to be a bomb in the basement of an apartment building. But wait! It wasn’t a real bomb. It was a “fake bomb” to be used in a training exercise. Planted by members of the Russian FSB. Later there is much confusion as to whether it was a real bomb (first responders with bomb disposal expertise say it was a legit explosive device) and who authorized the exercise.

Has there ever been a definitive explanation to these events?

I’m interested in what erudite types the likes of which hang out at the SDMB think.

Also, I would appreciate any input by Russian Dopers as to their thoughts on the matter.

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Not sure if this is in the correct forum btw, so move at will, mods.

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Do you mean “has the government admitted to attempting to commit mass murder”? The answer is no.

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The easiest way to explain the bombings is to consider who benefited the most from them, and the answer seems pretty clear to me.

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I heard one of the blasts and I was miles away at the time. It was an extremely murky affair and still is. Supposedly the explosive used in the bombs was hexogen(rdx) and they found traces of it on the one guy they nabbed and convicted for the bombings. At the time the authorities claimed that the training bomb contained powdered sugar rather then actual explosives, no idea if that’s still the official story. There are still many Russians who believe that the explosions were orchestrated by Putin or someone working for him, terrorist acts in Russia usually give the law and order candidate a boost and you can’t get much more law and order then ex-KGB. I doubt there will ever be an answer to who is responsible that I am willing to believe, as of right now I consider this to be yet another mystery of the violent and chaotic 90s Russia.