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Part 1: The Day Putin Killed 186 Russian Children
The Beslan tragedy still lives, but Putin has killed and imprisoned people to make Russians forget about it
On September 1st, 2004, 1100 people went to the school in Beslan in the Republic of North Ossetia Alania. It lies a mere 50 kilometers from Ingushetia. North Ossetians and the Ingush are historical enemies. In 2004, Ingush terrorists crossed the border and seized the grammar school in Beslan.
Was it an act of revenge for the violence committed against Ingush men in 1992 when they were executed by Beslan locals or just part of the never-ending insurgencies in the North Caucus mountains? It is really anyone’s guess.
What was suspected then but is evident to many now, 19 years later, the tragedy in Beslan was both a well-articulated and damning assessment of the corruption that rules Russia and it was a tragedy that indeed could have been stopped by Putin and his FSB but was likely permitted to play out so Putin could impose his will on the country under the slogan, “a little less democracy and more safety is what Russia needs.”
After watching what happened in Beslan, few living in Russia could argue that self-expression wasn’t great and all that, but the terrorist attacks against trains and the killing kids…