WE LOST A DAY AND A HALF

PAIN POINT

... On the day of the death of the hostages in Ossetia, all the news that was before 13.05 became outdated. The City Day, the CEC, the victory of Terek, some deputies turned out to be meaningless, from another life that can no longer be lived. Nothing could be next to these children ...

... On the day of the death of the hostages in Ossetia, all the news that was before 13.05 became outdated. The City Day, the CEC, the victory of Terek, some deputies turned out to be meaningless, from another life that can no longer be lived.

Next to these children, nothing could be remembered. Except, perhaps, the act of one person - Aushev Ruslan Sultanovich. He went to a still living school alone. He led out a group of women and children.

Fifteen babies.

It was Aushev who called the headquarters for the rescue of hostages when it came to life and death.

- Can you hear me well? Is it true that negotiations could take place at about 17 o'clock? Is it true that you even brought a message from Maskhadov to the terrorists demanding the release of the children?

- It was like this for hours. During the day everything is fine. They sent people to pick it up - there were 21 dead people. Gutseriev talked to them (terrorists - Ed.) on the phone. Everyone agreed that a car with five doctors would drive up. And at that time there, inside, there was some kind of explosion. The woman who jumped out first said: “Someone hooked on some nonsense - either a wire, or I don’t know what, one of the militants hooked ... In general, there was an explosion.”

We started to figure out what was going on.

And then the shooting started. And it's a continuous process...

— Shooting inside the school?

- No, there was an explosion - and the children rushed ... When I went there before, I saw: a full hall filled with children, women ... And when the explosion happened, they rushed to the exit. And then all the porridge went.

We asked to stop shooting. They called. They say: "We stopped the shooting, it's you who are shooting." And we give the command through our channels: “No shooting, cease fire!”. But there was also a stupid “third force”, I don’t know how they ended up there, now we are figuring it out. Some kind of "people's militia" with machine guns, who decided to free the hostages themselves. And they were shooting at this school!

That is, it turns out: the officials did not shoot, the invaders do not shoot. We shout to each other: "Who is shooting?"... And these, from the school, say: "Well, that's it, then we need to blow it up." And they started ... They decided that this was an assault! And - it went ... Then only the command for the assault was given ...

- And how could it develop differently, according to your plan?

- We were waiting for Aslakhanov to arrive. I wanted to visit them there with Aslakhanov. There was a statement by Maskhadov.

Did Maskhadov give you his statement?

— No, we pulled it from the Internet. A very good statement: that “we are not fighting with children”, fifth or tenth, Chechen fighters are fighting for independence, and not with children and women.

When I read this statement, I wanted to show them. When I talked to them, I say: “With whom are the negotiations?”. They say: "With Maskhadov." I wanted to show them: here Maskhadov declares. What's next? Release!

While Aslakhanov was flying, I found Zakayev in London and said: “Akhmed, if you still want to have some kind of face, help free people. Agree?" - "Agree". “Then make a political decision.”

They made a decision, and Maskhadov came out with a statement. This is the statement I wanted to give to these invaders.

But when Aslakhanov arrived, it was all over. (According to the editors, Aslakhanov first flew to Moscow, and then to Beslan.)

The idea was this. They gave a letter to President Putin.

- They gave you a letter, right, Ruslan Sultanovich?

Yes, to me personally.

- And in the letter - the main requirement?

- Well, as always: the same Budyonnovsk. Withdraw troops, control of the CIS countries over the situation in Chechnya... And we tell them to alleviate the situation: "Your letter will be forwarded to the President of the Russian Federation." I had to untie the knot somehow. The most important thing, I'll be honest here, is that we wanted to save the children. The rest - "we'll figure it out at home."

- Well, naturally.

- And they even asked, they gave their phone at school, that at least some federal minister called, so that he would chat with them there.

And with this stupid shooting by unknown civilians, everything fell apart.

In general, the assault was not prepared. It's all lies, everything they say: they were preparing an assault ... No one was preparing for an assault. I was there, the assault was not prepared. Already when this x ... nya went, the military had to act.

They shout to me on the phone: “We are being stormed!” We say: “You are not being stormed! "Alpha" is standing, everyone is standing. We say: "You are not being stormed, calm down there." They say: “They are shooting at us, they are storming us! We're blowing up!"

Did you come on your own initiative?

- There was a request from the headquarters, and I flew there.

“Why didn’t Zyazikov, Dzasokhov, whom they asked, go? ..

Ask them this question personally. The only thing I know is that we lost about a day and a half while they decided who would go. Here's what I can tell you honestly, like an officer. So, they had, as I understand it, three days. Such a task was set for them: if after three days the issue is resolved - either there or here. And we lost about a day and a half to find out who would go.

Did they talk to you in masks?

- No. And they all spoke Russian. On the phone - in Russian, at school - in Russian. I say: "Let's speak Vainakh." They answer: "No, speak Russian."

- And why, do you think, they told us for two days that there were hostages there - two hundred or three hundred people?

“But you yourself know that these figures are always involved in the political situation. When I entered the sports hall, in order to somehow calm them down, I said: “Do you recognize me?” They said yes. I say: "I'll try to do something." And that's how it all exploded.

— Ruslan, thank you very much. Great gratitude. Still, Aushev saved 26 people.

- Dima, not 26 people, that's not the point. The most important thing is babies: fifteen babies! They will grow up and know that the friendship between the Vainakhs and the Ossetians must last forever. Be sure to write this down.

- Necessarily.

PS I didn't ask him this question: - What did these tortured children pay for?