The Republic of North Ossetia in the Caucasus region has been part of the Russian Federation despite the conflicts it has faced. On September 1, 2004, a school in a small town in this region called Beslan attracted the attention of the whole world. An unprecedented terrorist attack occurred, in which the school was occupied and more than 1,000 people were taken hostage. Putin, who was also president at the time of the incident, visited the school at the site for the first time in 16 years and paid tribute to the victims.
As I watched the reports from the area, the words of the woman who had been taken hostage rang in my ears. "Pachymu (why)?" Even during the terrorist attack 20 years ago, everyone in Beslan was shouting "Pachimu!" It's not just people from this town. Whether it was the terrorist attack that took over a theater in Moscow in October 2002 or the terrorist bombings that occur every month in Russia, many people were left wondering, "Pachimu?"
On that day 20 years ago, the perpetrators who broke into an entrance ceremony held on the grounds of a school for elementary and junior high school students and took about 1,200 students, parents, grandparents, and teachers hostage were from Chechnya, which is also in the Caucasus region, where Russia has been invading military forces. I detailed the history and background of the conflict, including this terrorist incident, in my book "The Curse of Chechnya," published in 2005.
In short, Russia intervened militarily in Chechnya, which was seeking independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the Yeltsin administration made peace in response to public backlash. His successor, Putin, was backed by the "Siloviki," a faction of intelligence agencies and military-industrial complexes that had been neglected, and he needed a trigger to dramatically change the weakness of his political base. Those with vested interests have resumed their war of attrition, using any means necessary.
Chechnya's independent forces are cornered, and a faction aligned with Islamic extremists with the funds and tactics takes power. Both the Moscow theater terrorist attack and the Beslan school terrorist attack were perpetrated by these factions, and their demand was "the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya." In a series of incidents, the Shiloviki method of "prolonging negotiations and waiting for an opportunity to resolve by force" backfired. In the theater, more than 120 hostages were killed by "chemical weapons" sprayed by Russian troops, and in the school, the perpetrators, sensing a forced entry, detonated explosives first, killing more than 330 hostages.
This is the first time Putin has visited Beslan to pay respects to the dead since 2008. Immediately after the attack, the town of Beslan was filled with not only hatred towards the perpetrators, but also anger at the failure of the Russian troops. Currently, Russian forces that have invaded Chechnya and Georgia are attacking Ukraine. "We will achieve our goals in the fight against neo-Nazis (the war in Ukraine), just as we did in the fight against terrorism (the Chechen war)," said Putin in Beslan.
Putin's "goals" will continue to sacrifice many children, young people and civilians in both Ukraine and Russia. And many Russians keep asking, "Pachmu (why)?" However, this is an endless question "why happen?" not only for Russia, but also for countries that try to achieve security through war, countries that replace mismanagement with national crisis, and countries that prioritize national interests over the lives of their people.