Beslan school siege

• 1. The Attack Unfolds

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  On the 1st of September 2004, a group of armed terrorists arrived at School Number One in Beslan. They drove into the schoolyard in a GAZelle police van and a GAZ-66 military truck. The attackers wore green military camouflage and black balaclava masks. Some carried explosive belts and explosive underwear. Early that morning, they had left a forest encampment near the village of Psedakh. On their way to Beslan, they captured an Ingush police officer named Major Sultan Gurazhev on a country road near Khurikau. Gurazhev was left behind after the terrorists reached the school. He ran to the district police department to report the situation. His duty handgun and badge were taken from him.

  At 09:11 local time, the militants entered the school grounds. Many people initially mistook them for Russian special forces practicing a security drill. The attackers soon began shooting in the air. They forced everyone from the school grounds into the building. During the initial chaos, up to 50 people managed to flee and alert authorities. A number of others hid in the boiler room. After an exchange of gunfire against the police and an armed local civilian, the militants seized the school building. Reports of deaths during this shootout ranged from two to eight people. More than a dozen people were injured. The attackers took approximately 1,100 hostages.

• 2. Three Days Of Terror

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  The gymnasium held most of the hostages for 52 hours. It was a recent addition measuring wide and long. The captors prevented hostages from eating or drinking. They called this a hunger strike until North Ossetia's president Alexander Dzasokhov arrived to negotiate. The gym became sweltering as many children disrobed due to the heat. False rumors of sexual impropriety spread among the crowd. Many children fainted from exhaustion and thirst. Some hostages drank their own urine to survive. Occasionally, the militants poured water on unconscious children before returning them to the hall.

  Around 15:30 on the second day, two grenades detonated by the militants set a police car on fire outside. One officer was injured but Russian forces did not return fire. Stress and sleep deprivation made the hostage-takers increasingly hysterical. Crying children irritated them. On several occasions, mothers and children were threatened with death if they stopped crying. Overnight, a police officer was injured by shots fired from inside the school. Talks broke off and resumed the next day. By the end of the second day, the combination of stress and possible drug withdrawal left the captors unpredictable and volatile.

• 3. The Storming And Collapse

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  Early on the third day, negotiators contacted Aslan Maskhadov, president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He declared he was ready to fly to Beslan to negotiate. An agreement for his arrival was made one hour before the assault began. At 13:00, four Ministry of Emergency Situations medical workers entered to remove bodies. They brought the corpse of a killed terrorist into the school. At 13:03, an explosion in the gymnasium was heard. The terrorists opened fire on the paramedics, killing two. A second strange-sounding explosion followed 22 seconds later.

  At 13:05, fire started on the roof of the gymnasium. Burning rafters fell onto hostages below. Eventually, the entire roof collapsed, filling the room with flames. The fire reportedly killed some 160 people, more than half of the total hostage fatalities. A part of the sports hall wall was demolished by the explosions, allowing some hostages to escape. The militants opened fire as they ran. Russian military forces returned fire. A chaotic battle broke out as special forces fought to enter the school. T-72 tanks and BTR-80 armored personnel carriers were used during the operation. At least three Shmel rockets were fired at the school from special forces positions. Firefighters arrived nearly two and a half hours after the fire started. Few ambulances were available to transport the hundreds of injured victims.

• 4. Conflicting Narratives

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  Several conflicting opinions exist regarding the source of the explosions. Stanislav Kesayev, deputy speaker of the North Ossetian parliament, reported that witnesses said a federal-forces sniper shot a militant whose foot was on a dead man's switch detonator. This triggered the first blast. Captured terrorist Nur-Pashi Kulayev testified to this account. A local policewoman named Fatima Dudiyeva said she was shot in her hand from outside just before the explosion. She claimed there were three blasts: two small ones at 13:03 followed by a larger one at 13:29.

  State Duma member Yuri Savelyev argued that the exchange of gunfire did not begin with explosions inside the building. He stated that two shots were fired from outside the school. Most of the homemade explosive devices installed by terrorists did not explode at all. Savelyev suggested the first shot came from an RPO-A Shmel infantry rocket fired from a five-story building at No. 37 School Lane. The second shot came from an RPG-27 grenade launcher located at No. 41 on the same street. Empty shells and launchers were found on the roofs of these houses. Aleksandr Torshin, head of the Russian parliamentary commission, concluded in his December 2006 report that militants started the battle by intentionally detonating bombs among hostages. This statement went beyond previous government accounts that mentioned unexplained accidents.

• 5. Perpetrators And Motives

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  Initially, the identity of the attackers remained unclear. It was widely assumed they were separatists from nearby Chechnya. Vladimir Putin avoided linking the attack to the Second Chechen War. Instead, he blamed international terrorism. On the 17th of September 2004, Chechen terrorist leader Shamil Basayev issued a statement claiming responsibility for the siege. He boasted that the operation cost only 8,000 euros. Basayev said his Riyad-us Saliheen brigade carried out the attack. He claimed he had originally planned to seize a school in Moscow or Saint Petersburg but lacked funds.

  Basayev demanded recognition of Chechen independence and withdrawal of Russian troops. He also requested the presence of specific political figures including Alexander Dzasokhov and Ruslan Aushev. The hostage-takers made demands handwritten on a notebook. They spelled out full Russian troop withdrawal from Chechnya and recognition of Chechen independence at the United Nations. Basayev later stated that 33 mujahideen took part in the operation. Two were women. The group included 12 Chechen men, two Chechen women, nine Ingush, three Russians, two Arabs, two Ossetians, one Tartar, one Kabardinian, and one Guran.

• 6. Political Aftermath In Russia

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  In the wake of Beslan, the government toughened laws on terrorism and expanded law-enforcement powers. Vladimir Putin signed a law replacing direct election of federal subject heads with a system where they are proposed by the president. This change was approved or disapproved by elected legislative bodies of the federal subjects. Putin argued these proposals were not connected to obtaining additional prerogatives. He claimed the issue was effectiveness of the system's functioning.

  The Kremlin consolidated control over Russian media and increasingly attacked non-governmental organizations. A the 16th of September 2004 Levada-Center opinion poll found 58% of Russians supported stricter counterterrorism laws and the death penalty for terrorism. More than 10,000 people without proper documents were detained by Moscow police in a terrorist hunt. Colonel Magomed Tolboyev, a cosmonaut, was brutally beaten by a Moscow police patrol because of his Chechen-sounding name. An estimated 135,000 people joined a government-organized rally against terrorism in Red Square in Moscow. Increased security measures were introduced to Russian cities after the crisis.

• 7. Legacy And Trauma

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  By the 7th of September 2004, Russian officials stated that 334 people had died including 156 children. At that point, 200 people remained missing or unidentified. The Torshin Report later stated no bodies remained unidentified. Locals reported more than 200 killed were found with burns. Over 100 of them were burned alive. In 2005, two hostages died from injuries sustained in the incident. A 33-year-old librarian named Yelena Avdonina succumbed to a hematoma on the 8th of December 2006. The city of Beslan states a death toll of 335 on its website.

  The total number injured exceeded 1,200. At least 437 people including 221 children were hospitalized. Sixty-two people including 12 children were treated in local hospitals while six children with severe injuries were flown to Moscow for specialist treatment. Surviving children and parents received psychological treatment at Vladikavkaz Rehabilitation Centre. One hostage, physical education teacher Yanis Kanidis, saved many lives before being killed. A new school built in Beslan was subsequently named in his honor. Many survivors remained severely traumatized. At least one former hostage committed suicide after returning home.