Travel Stories - Russia

Day 1

On September 1, 2004 at 09:30 local time, a group of around thirty armed men and women, driving in GAZ-66 military trucks, stormed the middle classes of Beslan “Number One” school. Most attackers wore black balaclavas and some wore belts with explosives attached to them. After a shooting with the police, in which five agents and one attacker were killed, the hostage takers took control of the school and held more than 1100 people. About fifty people were fortunate enough to escape the chaos of the first attack. Most of the hostages were between seven and eighteen years young.

Initially there was a lot of confusion about how many hostages there were in the school. Soon after the assault, bystanders heard a shooting in the school. It turned out later that the hostage-takers had killed twenty adult male hostages and had removed their bodies from the buildings. A security cordon was soon installed around the school, consisting of Russian police and army units, security services, etc. The terrorists forced the hostages to go to the gym, and provided the building with improvised explosive installations. They threatened to blow up the school as soon as government units attacked the school. The Russian government initially said that it would like to prevent its military means from being used to rescue the hostages; she hoped that a peaceful resolution could be drawn up through negotiations. Later, however, the government had to give up this solution because the hostage-takers refused to negotiate. In the evening of the first day of the hostage, the Security Council of the United Nations was convened. Council members demanded "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages from the terrorist attack". US President George W. Bush gave Russia unconditional support in resolving the crisis.

Day 2

On September 2, 2004, negotiations between the hostage takers and Russia turned out to be unsuccessful. The terrorists even refused to provide food, water and medicines to the hostages and did not allow authorities to remove the dead from the building. Many hostages, mostly children, undressed to endure the extreme heat in the buildings. This led to rumors of sexual abuse by the hostage takers, but these later turned out to be unfounded. In the afternoon, the armed fighters agreed to the release of 26 women with babies. Around 15:30 two explosions took place in the school, about 10 minutes apart. These later turned out to be explosions of rocket-propelled grenades.

Day 3

In the afternoon of 3 September 2004, the hostage takers agreed to the arrival of medical authorities to remove the bodies from the schoolyard. Reaming units entered the school grounds, but after a few seconds the hostage takers opened fire on them, after which two explosions were heard. Two aid workers were killed; the rest could flee. As a result of the explosions a part of the gym collapsed, allowing a group of about thirty hostages to escape. The group was shot at by the armed hostage-takers, killing some of the fleeing prisoners. Others managed to escape. This was probably the moment when Russian special forces set in motion their action plan to storm the school to save all possible survivors. A chaotic struggle broke out when the special units tried to enter the school and let the hostages escape. A large group of soldiers stormed the building, as did special units, national army units, armed helicopters and at least one tank. Even local citizens started the attack with their own weapons. The hostage-takers let the gym explode and a large part of the rest of the building. A big fire broke out. Special commands made man-made-holes in the walls to allow hostages to escape. Around 15:00, two hours after the attack began, Russian troops claimed control for most of the school. Yet the fighting continued. In the basement three armed men were detected together with a number of hostages. They were all killed. Reportedly, two female hostage-takers, who were supposedly disguised as aid workers, got out.

Aftermath:

According to official data, 331 civilians died during the attack. At least one surviving female hostage committed suicide. Many other survivors were in shock. Others died in the hospital from their injuries. During the operation, 11 fighters from the special divisions "Alfa" and "Vympel" were killed, including the commander of "Alfa".

Responsibility for the terrorist act was claimed on 17 September 2004 by the Chechen resistance fighter Sjamil Basajev and his companion Magomet Jevlojev. The identity behind the terrorists, however, was not immediately clear. Many believed it should have been separatists from nearby Chechnya, but Aslambek Aslachanov had denied this: he claimed” "they were not Chechens." The Russian government declared that the group consisted of an international group of Arabs, Tatars, Kazakhs, Chechens, Uzbeks and even a local resident, the Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maschadov denied that his troops were involved in the siege, condemning the hostage and all attacks against civilians through a statement issued by his envoy Ahmed Zakayev.Finally, the identity of 32 hostages was announced Among them were 5 women.

In May 2005, the only known accused terrorist of the massacre, which was still alive, Noer-Pasji Kulajev was tried in a Russian court in North Ossetia. All local lawyers refused to defend Kulaev. Albert Plijev was eventually appointed as a lawyer. There was great anger among the locals: they wanted to either lynch the accused, or they would have condemned him to the death penalty. Kulaev was officially accused of murder, terrorism, kidnapping and other crimes and was found guilty on seven charges. On May 26, 2006, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, although according to the judge he deserved the death penalty. But in Russia the death penalty was abolished, so his sentence was converted. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced two days of national mourning, namely 6 and 7 September. On September 7, 135,000 people took part in an anti-terror demonstration on the Red Square in Moscow.