JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: A hostage drama at a Russian resort town may have been just a case of play-acting. More from CNN's Steve Harrigan.</s>STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 24-hour hostage drama ended peacefully when then gunmen surrendered to police. The question now is whether they really held any hostages. Officials say the entire affair may have been a drunken charade.</s>VIKTOR KAZANTSEV, KREMLIN REP. IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA (through translator): They had a lot of alcohol. There was a dispute. And they decided to play. One acted as a terrorist, one as a victim. They chained each other up and filmed it on a camera. In the morning, they sobered up.</s>HARRIGAN: Not before they issued a demand for $30 million and freedom for all Chechens in Russian prisons. Hundreds of riot police and anti-terrorist commandos were raced to the tiny resort town on the Black Sea. After at least one exchange of gunfire and a full night of negotiations, the hostage-takers and their alleged hostages gave up. All now face real confinement in a Russian jail. Steve Harrigan, CNN, Moscow.</s>WOODRUFF: Well, whenever you think you've seen everything.
Russian Hostage Drama or Drunken Charade?