1. Beslan: Cry of the Bear Cubs
Greg Ferency
SWATdigest
“He (God) kept the best… the most beautiful ones…
the best children” - 12 year old girl… Beslan hostage
survivor
The Day of Knowledge is an important day in Russia.
This is the first day of school and they take it much more
seriously than their American counterparts. It is a day of
celebration and festivities. The first day of school in Rus-
sia always is on September 1st and young Beslan stu-
dents dressed in their best on that faithful morning. They
came with gifts and flowers for the teachers. They also
came with joy and excitement.
The city of Beslan (population 40,000) was celebrat-
ing the first day of school like the rest of Russia. Beslan
School #1 had drawn approximately 3000 people due to
the fact that it handled grades 1-11.
At Beslan School #1 a party of sorts was held out-
side the school. Teachers, students, parents and relatives
met, hugged, sang and welcomed each other on school
grounds. The students then lined up according to grade,
a perfect formation and an advantage for those who were
abouttocome.Atapproximately9:00am,therageofterror
struck, approximately three dozen Chechen and Islamic
extremists pulled up in two large trucks and jumped out.
This was the catalyst for several others hidden among the
crowd to jump into action. In total approximately forty
nine heavily armed terrorists charged and took the lives
of a massive amount of innocent people over a period of
sixty two hours.
They executed a plan of action, which involved
wrangling the adults and students into the school build-
ing. They fired their weapons in the air and on the ground
in an effort to maximize panic and submission to their
demands. It was incredibly effective. Speed was vital to
them and they had planned and done their job well. At
first some of the victims thought the original shots being
fired was a military drill or police “chasing bandits”. One
teenage student thought this exact scenario until she saw
a “bearded man” yell at her… “Why are you standing
here? You are all being taken hostage!” A police officer
and security guard engaged the attackers with minimal
effect. They didn’t have much of chance and were quick-
ly cut down. However, it is just possible their actions al-
lowed an amount of potential victims to get away. No
matter how small or large that unknown number was it
was significant.
What can now be considered hostages were herded
into the school with threats of death to themselves and
more importantly to their children. Families were split up
in the chaos and many children were left on their own to
deal with this frightening event. The hostages were effec-
tively driven into, what could be loosely called by Ameri-
can standards, a gym in school. The siege had begun.
In a matter of minutes the terrorists had taken ap-
proximately 1,132 innocent souls. Almost immediately
the citizens of Beslan gathered around the school form-
ing a human fence around the hostages and terrorists. The
hostage takers consisted of Chechen and Islamic extrem-
ists, this included two “Fiancés of Allah”. The “Fiancés
of Allah” are women who are under the age of twenty-
five and had a male member of their family killed in the
Chechen War. The women strapped explosives to their
bodies to be used as mobile human bombs.
The group eventually divided themselves in three com-
mand and control elements:
“Control group” – supervised and controlled the hostag-
es.
“Security group” – protected the group from barricaded
positions within the school. “Leader group” – gave or-
ders and controlled limited negotiations.
After the hostages were forced into the gym mothers at-
tempted to calm their children by telling them that they
were in a movie, a military exercise or it was just “a
game”. Even with the terrorists attempts to control ev-
eryone it was obviously chaotic inside the gym. The ter-
rorists were constantly threatening the children that they
would be shot if they continued crying. A forty six year
old man who attempted to calm the other hostages down
was executed in front of everyone in the gym. His body
was then drug out of the gym leaving an ominous blood
trail. This was an obvious submissive tactic to let the hos-
tages know that they had no problem killing their prey.
The group then began wiring explosive devices amongst

2. the hostages. The bombs were placed around and above
the sitting hostages, including a basketball goal that
would later play a catastrophic role in the events of this
incident. Most of the bombs were primitive but deadly.
They were embedded with nails and other objects to act
as shrapnel to increase their effectiveness. The terrorists
claimed to have wired one of the bombs to a foot con-
trolled “dead mans switch”. It appeared in the form of a
pedal. This was one of two dead man switches that they
claimed to have and the foot pedal can be seen in video
footage the terrorists sent out to the Russian authorities to
let them know that it existed. A terrorist would keep his
foot on the pedal. If he was shot or lifted his foot off the
pedal for any reason the bomb(s) would detonate. Rus-
sian authorities now believe that the dead mans switch
was a fake. But, whether it was or not was irrelevant to
the hostages at the time. Hence, it was effective.
Early on the first day the hostages were told to give
up their cell phones along with any cameras, including
video cameras. They were told that if anyone hid a cell
phone and were caught they and others around them
would be shot. In the end a pile of these devices were on
the floor. The terrorists found a video camera that a father
had brought to video his child going to school. They used
it for their own and videotaped the hostages along with
themselves. The videotape was later found by a group
of boys going through the carnage of the school after
the event was over. The videotape can be seen in several
documentaries about the Beslan event and can viewed on
some video web sites. It offers some limited insight into
conditions of the hostages on the first two days of the
siege as well as the mindset of the terrorist holding them.
In this video a bomb can be seen hung so low that anyone
walking under it would have hit their head on it. It was
obviously slung this way for maximum killing effect.
Fear and death were not over yet for day one of the
siege. Up to sixteen men and boys were taken to the sec-
ond floor (room 206) of the school and lined up against
the wall of one of the classrooms. They were then execut-
ed outright. Their bodies were then tossed out a window
onto the ground below. It is probable that the terrorists
viewed these men as a possible threat and wanted to get
rid of them quickly. These men were probably large in
stature, appeared to be healthy and most likely posed a li-
ability. It made no difference if the threat perception was
real or not. Several other men were forced to assist them
in the fortification of the school. They were forced to as-
sist in barricading the windows and door from the outside.
After their efforts were complete they were shot dead and
left where they lay. This brutal group had something else
in store for the young attractive female hostages. They
were singled out and one by one taken to another room
of the school where they were sexually assaulted over the
entire course of this event. This included the barrels of
assault weapons and other forbidding objects.
As day one progressed and the hostages suffering
continued Russia began its response to the school. The
58th Infantry Division arrived at Beslan. This division
is a standard military entity made up of mostly young
conscripts. They were in no way prepared to handle this
situation. What they found was a melee of armed angry
civilians that had surrounded the school by the thousands.
Many of the men were armed with their own weapons
and were threatening to storm the school. The Russian
authorities did not help matters any by
announcing that there were only 354
hostages in the school. The crowd knew
the number was much higher and this
number incensed them, as well as the
terrorists in the school when the num-
ber reached them. This down playing of
the numbers did not help the authorities
in any way. All it did was escalate sus-
picion of them by the Beslan civilians
and caused the anger of the terrorists
to pour over onto the hostages in the
school.
Russia sent numerous other mil-
itary and government Special Forces
to Beslan. These groups are known as
“Spetsnaz” units. The word Spetsnaz
comes by combining the words “Spe-
cial Purpose Forces”. Although several

3. responded, the two primary units assigned to the school
were Alpha and Vympel. These units responded from
Chechnya and Moscow. Alpha can be best compared to
America’s Delta Force or CAG, as they are now known.
Vympel is Russia’s formal “terrorist type” unit. They
conduct the missions that are very specialized and un-
pleasant. They are also trained to go behind enemy lines
and cause havoc. Both are top notch units and trained
well in what they do. Again, upon their arrival they found
a scene that was chaotic at best… both behind the walls
of the school and streets outside of it. During this time
snipers began taking up positions around the school.
In regards to negotiations with the
terrorists… they were limited at best.
The terrorists had a bloody end planned
for this incident and talking to them
was not going to divert them.
Civilians continued to gather
around the school. Over the course of
the siege and up to its catastrophic end
the civilians stayed at the school. Many
refused food or to sleep in solidarity
with the hostages inside the school. For
logistical reasons this helps nothing and
might be construed as a bad idea… no
matter how noble. If an event like this
ever occurs in the United States we can
assume that the end will also be bloody
to say the least. First responders, espe-
cially law enforcement, may very well
be decimated with officers wounded
and killed. Other first responder agencies will also be
pulled to their furthest brink. The one element that has
potential to remain strong is the community. People may
need places to stay. Children victims may need blankets
and someone to hold on to until the proper entity can as-
sist them. Food may need distributed. In other words the
community may be called in some low level, but impor-
tant factor when the final bullet is fired. Hence, they will
need to be strong, rested, fed and ready to assist if that is
asked of them.
It is amazing how the civilians were able to inter-
mingle with the security forces around the school. Males
with rifles with some fueled with vodka continued to
place themselves in positions to fire at the school. They
exchanged verbal insults and gestures with the terror-
ists inside the school. The Russian authorities may have
feared that if they attempted to disarm the civilians of
their weapons they would be involved in a firefight with
the very same people whose children were being held
hostage inside the school.
As the morning of September 2nd came to Beslan
little had changed for the hostages. Parents continued to
try to comfort their children as well as keep the calm.
Those with medical conditions started to feel the effects
of the lack of their medication, food and water.
One politician was allowed inside the school for ne-
gotiations on the second day of the siege. He was Rus-
lan Aushev. Aushev was a former Russian general who
later became the President of Ingushetia. Ingushetia lies
between Chechnya and North Ossetia (where Beslan is
located). Chechnya and Ingushetia are predominately
Muslim while North Ossetia is mostly Christian. The In-
guish, including Aushev, are very sym-
pathetic to Chechnya and its bid for in-
dependence. A number of the terrorists
that took over the school had Inguish
origins.
Aushev was allowed inside the
school. The video footage that the ter-
rorists took with their new camera shows
him attempting to get the terrorists to re-
lease some of the hostages. The school
principal can also be seen pleading for
the children. The terrorist to whom they
were speaking with agrees to release
some of the nursing babies. When they
were released mothers were forced to
make decisions no parent should never
have to do. They were forced to leave
with their babies but leave older chil-
dren behind. As they left the school Au-
shev left with them carrying a baby that a mother gave up
to stay behind with her older child. Aushev followed the
released mothers out of the school with the child and he
was never able to return to the school.
This was not a kind act by the terrorist. It was at best
a standard stalling tactic. As in, “see we are releasing
hostages”. Babies do not know terrorism or any other act
of violence. They only know they are hot, hungry, thirsty
and not having a good time. As we all know this usually
translates into crying. These particular babies were driv-
ing the terrorists crazy. However, they probably knew
enough to know that if they started executing babies out-
right this would be the one thing to cause a riot of sorts
among the mothers inside. Hence, this was probably a
strategic move on their part as much as anything else.
Interviews with the former hostages stated that many
started losing hope of a peaceful resolution as day two
went on. The terrorists also became more hostile and
unpredictable towards them. Many of the hostages had
gone without food or water since the siege began the day

4. before. They started drinking their own urine and eating
pedals off the flowers that they had brought for the teach-
ers to celebrate the Day of Knowledge. Everything bad
from day one transferred over to day two. Hostages con-
tinued to be sorted out for various forms of harassment
and abuse. This continued as day two grew into day three
of the siege of Beslan School #1.
The hostages continued to obviously deteriorate as
the morning September 3rd arrived. Many hostages and
civilians outside the school later reported that there was
something in air on September 3rd. They knew something
was going to happen on this day. Parents stated that the
children inside the school no longer responded to the ter-
rorists threats and the gunfire that usually followed. They
were exhausted, dehydrated and numb
to all stimuli around them. One mother
even said that some of the mothers pon-
dered doing something to spark an end
to this horror. The mental stability of
the hostages and even the terrorist (even
they began arguing with each other) ap-
peared be to breaking down.
At approx 1:05pm that something
did happen. One of the bombs
hanging from a basketball goal fell and
detonated. It was followed by another
explosion several seconds later. This set
off a trigger of events that proved cata-
strophic for all. The explosions obvi-
ously killed many people immediately.
They obviously injured many parents,
teachers and children alike. Some survi-
vors described a deafening silence and
zero visibility from the debris of the ex-
plosions. As time progressed hostages
began jumping out the gyms windows
in an effort to make a dash for escape
and life. The terrorist realized what was happening and
started firing into the fleeing victims. One teenage female
hostage stated that she was finally able to fall asleep. She
was awakened by the explosions and was surrounded by
“dead bodies”. She escaped out of a hole blown into the
gym wall with a friend. Several minutes after the second
explosion the roof of the gym caught fire and collapsed.
This took even more innocent lives. One child survivor
stated that he saw other children melting alive.
Confusion was apparent on both sides. The Rus-
sian military thought the terrorists set the bombs off on
purpose. The terrorist thought the Russians had started
their assault on the school. Just prior to the explosions
going off the terrorists had agreed to allow the Russian
authorities to remove the bodies of the men killed on day
one of the attack and thrown out the window. As the men
were doing this the explosions occurred. This may very
well have seeded the terrorists belief that the assault was
planned on the Russian side and the body removal was
an attempt to place soldiers in a strategic position. These
brave rescuers assigned to remove the bodies were fired
upon… one was killed.
Alpha and Vympel units waited for the “go” com-
mand to enter the school. The problem was that none of
the “higher ups” could or would give the order. Finally
the units began the entry after not being able to stand by
any longer as their Russian children were being slaugh-
tered. Patch made elements of both units began their res-
cue attempt. A large portion of Alpha was 18 miles to
the south in the city of Vladikavkaz practicing a prepared
assault on a school that was similar to Beslan School #1.
Vympel would bear much of the brunt of the initial rescue
attempt.
Obviously, the Spetsnaz units were placed in a po-
sition that forced them to engage. Some with in rescue
teams used their own bodies as shields as they attempted
to protect the fleeing hostages that were pouring out of the
gym. The Alpha and Vympel teams made entry through
windows and “mouse holes” they blew into the walls of
the school with explosive breaches. One Vympel element
attempted to enter the school through the main entrance,
but it was heavily barricaded and wired with explosives.

5. A tank round finally gave them a way inside.
The armed civilians also started firing their weapons
at the school. Others surged forward toward the school
with the Spetsnaz teams. Some helped hostages through
the windows and rushed them to safety. Others can be
seen in photos helping with fire hoses showering water
into the gym. The civilians were playing a role in the in-
cident from start to finish…. for good, bad or worse. At
this point crowd control was literally non-existent.
Six year old Aida Sidokova was blown out the win-
dow of the gym after the initial
bombs went off. There is a se-
ries a photos taken by a pho-
tographer that documents part
of her story. The photographer
was imbedded with a Russian
sniper team positioned outside
the school. The photos start off
by showing Aida and another
woman lying on the ground out-
side the gym in the courtyard.
The woman and Aida then start
to raise up. The woman flees the
area. Aida, dressed in only her
underwear with her skinny legs
covered in blood, is then photo-
graphed climbing back into the
gym through the same windows
she was blown out of... her at-
tempt to re-enter the gym was
successful. The very last photo
shows the roof collapsing and
the gym engulfed in flames.
Many of the surviving hos-
tages in the gym were forced
into the kitchen and cafeteria
area of the school. Once there
they were forced to stand in front of the windows acting
as human shields to protect the terrorists from incoming
bullets. The terrorists told them to scream to the military
(and in all probability civilians) to stop the assault on the
school.
As Vympel and Alpha teams made their way into the
school engaging their targets the hostages continued to
stream out of the school. In the end it took ten hours for
the Russians to retake the school with the last remaining
terrorists were killed on the north side of the southern
wing of the school. Alpha and Vympel blasted the bar-
ricaded hostiles with RPG and RPO’s, basically blowing
that section of the school apart. Beslan School #1 was
finally back in Russian control. Hostages continued to
stream out of the school during all this in an attempt to
escape the carnage. As you view and study the photos of
the event several things become evident.
You will notice that most of the children are either
naked or in their underwear. This was due to the fact that
the gym acted as a greenhouse of sorts with the windows
and all the people stuffed inside. The heat inside the gym
became unbearable. You will also notice that most of the
hostage make up were women and younger children.
This may be due to the fact that many of the older, hence
stronger / faster kids, were
able to flee the school grounds
when the assault was initiated.
The younger children had no
recourse other than to follow
the terrorists directions. Note:
the lower number of older stu-
dents was also determined be-
cause the older students found
such festivities “not cool,” as
the event was designed for the
younger children. There were
also a fairly significant number
of men to women hostage ra-
tio. This may be due to the fact
that fathers tend to avoid this
type of activity and many may
have been working at the local
businesses and factories.
You will also notice
that many of the victims (espe-
cially the children) were being
carried by other civilians. This
was due to them being injured,
exhausted, malnourished / de-
hydrated and panicked. De-
spite their actions throughout
the incident it could be safe to say that some of the civil-
ian males saved the lives of hostages by assisting them to
safety.
Make shift aid stations were set up in secure areas
around the school. Most of the escaping hostages begged
for water from their rescuers and first responders. The
Russian authorities planned poorly for the medical treat-
ment side and there were limited numbers of medical
assets around the school. For some victims the “Golden
Hour” was ticking away. Many of the victims wandered
the aid areas looking for family members… children look-
ing for parents… parents looking for children… brother
looking for sister and so on. The anguish of Beslan was
to continue as families received the news of dead loved

6. ones… some of this came immediately as they identified
bodies other news came later as DNA results became ap-
parent in later months.
By 11:00pm the Russian military had taken the bat-
tered school back from the Chechens and their extremist
allies. Imagine a ten-hour battle in and around an Ameri-
can school. The North Hollywood bank shootout in 1997
between two bank robbers and LAPD lasted less than an
hour. And even though the North Hollywood bank ac-
tors were heavily body armored they were shooting from
minimal use of cover and concealment with a vehicle be-
ing their only real option. Imagine dozens of motivated
individuals with brick and mortar as cover.
Eleven Vympel andAlpha soldiers were killed re-tak-
ing the school. Other Spetsnaz units lost ten other brave
men… another sixty-three were wounded. Compare these
casualties to any American police department. Stories of
heroism on the part of these Russian units should be ac-
knowledged… this may be our American police officers
if a similar event happens here. One of the individual
incidents that I am aware of involved a Vympel officer
grabbing a terrorist in the gym. The officer saw that the
man was about to throw a grenade into a crowd of hos-
tages who had survived the initial explosions. The officer
tackled the terrorist and held him in a bear type hug un-
til the grenade exploded and killed them both. Another
Vympel officer was shot in the neck while trying to cover
the fleeing hostages from sniper fire coming from the sec-
ond floor of the school. He literally bled to death while
never giving up or retreating from his position that was
completely exposed in the school courtyard. These are
just two brief examples and I bet there are hundreds of
stories just like these. These acts not only included hero-
ism (true heroism) on the part of the Spetsnaz units, but
these are also stories of unbelievable brave acts on the
parts of the teachers, parents and even the older students
who sacrificed their lives to save others.
One of the Chechens made it out of the school. He
was found hiding under a truck by the Russians. His
name was Norpasha Kulayev and he was sentenced to
“life” in prison in the summer of 2005.
During this 53 hour incident the most recent numbers I
have seen are as follows:
1,132 hostages
334 dead
186 children dead
700+ wounded
Old Soviet habits die hard in the Russian military
and political machine. Nobody would take charge of the
school scene. Command and control was poor. Lower
level officers and officials had no chain of command
to turn to. Shooters for the Spetsnaz teams around the
school couldn’t get anyone in a position of authority to
give the order to move in on the school after the bombs
went off. After waiting so long they decided to go in on
their own.
Wounded children and adults were spread out all
over southern and western Russia (including Moscow)
for medical treatment. It took weeks, even months, for
some families to find out that their relatives had survived.
It should be noted that Moscow is 1000 miles from Be-
slan. One female survivor who was a teenager reported
that it took her awhile to realize that she was now safe
while in the hospital. In her mind she perceived the doc-
tors and nurses as being terrorist who continued to want
to harm her.
Entire generations were destroyed in the Beslan in-
cident… especially younger generations where all the
younger siblings were killed. Some children survived but
one or both of their parents did not. Pictures were put up
on the walls of Beslan streets of unclaimed child survi-
vors.
During the Cold War America depended on the Rus-
sians / Soviets loving their children as much as we did.
The heroism of the shooters who re-took the school com-
piled with the grief of the people of Beslan and Russia
itself…. proved that they do. Russian citizens left bottles
of water and other beverages at the school as a symbolic
attempt to quench the thirst of the dead, dying and injured.
They also left stuffed dolls and animals in acknowledg-
ment of the child victims… the youngest of the dead be-
ing two years old. This continues to be what can now be
considered a tradition at the cemetery where the dead are
buried. Toys and drinks are left at the gravesites of the
victims slaughtered at the school.
Victims of the siege reported that the hostage tak-
ers were injecting something into themselves during the
incident. Heroin is a major drug in that area of the world.
However, the descriptions of the terrorists behavior after
the injections are much more consistent with some type of
amphetamine based stimulant. The victims reported that
they became much more hyper and aggressive and physi-
cal / sexual abuse increased towards the hostages after
the drug ingestion. We should take note of this as what
would be normally be conceived as a recreational drug
is now being used as a strategic option against us. If this
behavior is observed in future incidents we should not
assume that we are dealing with drug addicted thugs…
but a crack team of assailants who have an agenda and
strategy already set in motion. The drugs are simply an

7. effective part of the original plan.
Some have attempted to state that the Russian mili-
tary units started the assault on September 3rd thus caus-
ing the bombs to detonate. This doesn’t make sense for
several reasons. The main Spetsnaz units had only 133
operators around the school that were “on duty” at the
time that bombs went off. Another 133 operators were
“off duty” on a two minute stand-by. By American police
standards this seems like a lot, but their planned assault
called for at least twice that many to be at the school. In
an exchange of E mails I learned of an important fact
from the photographer embedded with a sniper team. He
stated that he did not notice anything in Spetsnaz behav-
ior to indicate a planned assault at the time the bombs
went off in the school.
The Russians correctly estimated that there were
around fifty terrorists in the school. They also knew that
it would take 10 to 1 superiority ratio for each entrenched
terrorist to be taken out… plus another 50% of ready re-
serve to back up the initial assault team. Obviously, if
you do the math the numbers needed did not match what
an experienced military, like the Russians had at Beslan,
would need for a planned assault / rescue. Also, don’t
forget that most of the primary unit (Alpha) assigned
for this type of mission was miles away practicing for
the planned assault if it came to that. There were other
military units at Beslan with Alpha and Vympel. But they
rarely train with or draw assets from them. Also, as we
already discussed it actually took an extended period of
time for the Vympel and the remaining Alpha troops to go
into the school because the government officials balked
at giving the order.
The Russians were caught flat-footed. They had no
formal assault plan yet and after the bombs went off any
type of plan that they might have been trying to formulate
converted into “just save as many kids as you can”. .. pe-
riod. The results are what we have in the history of what
occurred at Beslan School #1.
It has been noted that the floorboards of the library
had been torn up. Some have assessed that because of this
weapons were hidden under the library floor months prior
to assault in September. In all practicality a more obvious
answer would be that the terrorists were looking for tun-
nels being dug underneath the school by Russian forces
for a planned assault and entry point into the school. The
Russians had done this at the Dubrovka Theatre (the play
that was being put on was called Nord Ost, which this
incident is commonly known as) play in October 2002.
The terrorists at Beslan probably learned from this an
were looking for the tunnels, which did not exist, at the
school.
The only thing that has come out of the Beslan School
siege is death, depression, despair and lessons. As police
officers in the United States and around the world we
were powerless to do anything for the victims while this
incident was in motion. However, we can learn from the
lessons that can be taken away from this tragedy. If we
don’t we may suffer the consequences in a manner that is
much more than anything we have dealt with in the past
on our soil. These lessons were not free… they came with
a price… the cry of the bear cubs… in September 2004.
Note:Aida Sidakova survived her ordeal at Beslan School
#1. She was later asked why she climbed back into the
gym. She stated she wanted to be with her mother who
was still inside.
References and must see resources:
Terror at Beslan – John Giduck ( www.terroratbeslan.
com )
---thanks for the help on this, John
Children of Beslan – HBO documentary
Three Days in September – Showtime documentary
Greg can be reached at gregferency@swatdigest.com