September 16th — Day of Remembrance for the victims of the terrorist act in Volgodonsk

Today at 5:40 in the morning in the V-U quarter there began an event dedicated to the victims of the 1999 terrorist attack. Showing up first at the site of the tragedy, today as well as on that terrible day 14 years ago, were rescuers and firefighters, medical workers, law enforcement officers, representatives from the city, and relatives of the victims.

On September 16th, 1999, at 5:57 AM a vehicle packed with explosives equivalent to two tons of TNT blew up.

By its degree of damage, the attack at building number 35 on the Oktyabrskoe highway in the city of Volgodonsk is still considered the largest in Russia: damaged were 39 houses, a police station, two schools, a kindergarten, and a library. About 16,000 inhabitants (including a 1000 children) are officially recognized as victims. 19 Volgodonsk residents were killed, and 73 people became permanently disabled.

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On September 3rd, during the ninth anniversary of the tragic events in Beslan, an exhibition opened in the Arts Center on Michurin Street. This “upside down” exhibition was devised by a Samara artist named Frol Jolly, who became both curator of the project and one of its authors.

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Knowledge Day in Russia has always been one of the most joyous of celebrations, but nine years ago the Beslan tragedy made the first of September a regular time of remembrance and mourning. ‘Kultura’ today visits Beslan and tries to find out whether or not the wound has finally healed, and what conclusions can been drawn from those terrible events.

September 1st, 2004, started out pretty much the same in every city in Russia: boys carrying flowers, little girls in bows, and the song “They are taught in school” coming from the loudspeakers. In the North Ossetia city of Beslan, that particular Knowledge Day and its aftermath became a kind of hell on earth.

The road from the Vladikavkaz airport to the capital city of North Ossetia passes right by “The City of Angels”. Many people stop: some for a quiet prayer, some to place a porcelain angel figurine specially purchased for this cemetery of victims of the terrorist attack on Beslan School #1. There are 266 individual graves, the absolute majority of which are children’s, and one mass grave for the many unidentified body parts found after the appalling slaughter. They all bear the same date of death: September 3rd, 2004.

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Nine years ago terrorists seized a school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. The hostages were held for three days. Nine years later, Susanna Dudiyeva, leader of the 'Mothers of Beslan' public organization, spoke with 'Vlasti' correspondent Zaur Farniyev on how the former hostages and their relatives have been living these years, and why they continue to believe that the truth is being hidden from them.

'Vlasti': The investigation into the Beslan terrorist attack continues. What has changed? Do you have any hope that it will end soon?

Susanna Dudiyeva: They have even stopped notifying us, the victims, of extensions to the investigation. Personally, for the last year I have not received a single letter about the investigation being extended, which was the case during the previous eight years. During this same year, neither my friends nor I have received a single summons to see the prosecutor, nor have we gotten any answers to the questions we asked. I am to understand that the investigation is at a standstill. There is complete silence. I think that the investigation team is called «the investigation of the Beslan terrorist act», but it has apparently been busy with any and all the other chores and errands.

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