
20 years after Beslan ‘special operation’, a legacy of violence, lies and dead children persists
Voice of America
People take part in a commemoration ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the deadly school siege, at a cemetery in Beslan in the region of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia Sept. 3, 2024. Children release white balloons outside the former school, which came under an attack by Islamist militants in 2004 and is currently a center of patriotic education and terrorism prevention, during a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the siege, Sept. 3, 2024. People gather at the former school, which came under an attack by Islamist militants in 2004 and is currently a center of patriotic education and terrorism prevention, Sept. 3, 2024. People mourn at a cemetery on the 20th anniversary of the deadly school siege in Beslan in the region of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia Sept. 3, 2024. People take part in a commemoration ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the deadly school siege, at a cemetery in Beslan in the region of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia Sept.3, 2024.
Two decades after the Beslan school siege — a notorious terrorist attack on a Russian school that left more than 300 people dead — families of the victims are still demanding answers about what happened and why an official investigation has never been completed.

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