Unhealed wound of Beslan terror attack: Russia commemorates 20th anniversary of tragedy

On September 1, Russia commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Beslan school terror attack, which claimed the lives of 334 people, including 186 children. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the memorial of the Beslan victims on August 20 and knelt in solemn tribute. “This tragedy will undoubtedly remain an unhealed wound in the collective memory of all of Russia,“ Putin said during his meeting with the members of “Mothers of Beslan“, an association of victims of the terrorist attack in the North Ossetian city. The terror attack in Beslan, a city in Russia’s Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, occurred on the morning of September 1, 2004. Over 30 Islamist militants seized School No. 1 during a holiday assembly, taking over 1,200 people hostage and placing explosives in the building. Most of the hostages were children, who were forcibly held in the building for three days without food or water. Units of the FSB Special Purpose Center were immediately dispatched to Beslan to free the hostages. On the third day of the siege, two powerful blasts inside the building forced the counter-terror units to launch an assault, during which the hostages were released, and the terror group was eliminated. One Islamist militant, Nurpashi Kulaev, was captured and later sentenced to life in prison.