@whiskey

In case of Beslan govt is directly responsible for all the deaths, as the operation was conducted with criminal negligence. Freeing hostages was never a concern, the main thing was killing the terrorists. A lot of Russians are angry at the govt for it, but I wouldn’t call it a world-view forming event, as people position fell along the pre-existing lines.

Blowing up homes in Moscow and Volgodonsk was done by FSB to provide a justification and public support for war in Chechnya. Democratic institutions have not been completely eroded back then, an Putin could not do it otherwise. Anna Politkovaskya was killed when she was investigating this.