In the evening of 22 September 1999 a resident of an multi-apartment living block in Russian town of Ryazan spotted suspicious people bringing big white bags into the building's cellar from their car. As a wave of strange apartment bombings was just going through Russia, he notified local police who sent a investigators and sappers. On arrival, the latter confirmed presence of hexogen (RDX), a powerful military-grade explosive, which started a chain of weird events, currently known as "Ryazan sugar" (Russian: рязанский сахар). Initially the case was investigated by Ryazan FSB branch, which considered this a failed terrorist act and honestly tried to locate the perpetrators. The mystery started when they established that the people planting the bags were... FSB operatives. After a few days of usual silence the central FSB office in Moscow suddenly changed its line and said in reality it was not hexogen but harmless sugar and the whole planting was an exercise to "check vigilance of local law enforcement". In 1999 Russia still had independent media, which have promptly ridiculed this inconsistent and contradictory narrative and this long journalist investigation on NTV was one of such programs aired in prime time. Especially the studio scene, where FSB experts mumbling and speaking incoherently contradict both themselves and the official narrative of "exercises" was unbearable for Putin, previously head of FSB. Shortly after the program NTV was forcibly nationalised and turned into an official propaganda channel.